From Louise Martindell:
The NHS art department is super excited to share details about “PLAY” a participatory public art mural project happening at NHS!
The week of May 9th (next week!) our very own bus loop will be a flurry of creative energy as we welcome visiting artists to work with students and classes to install our very own NHS mural designed in response to student feedback about their personal experiences with color!
Led by mural artists Andrae Green and Kim Carlino in collaboration with NHS art teachers, the NHS mural will use color, human form and geometry in improvisational juxtapositions to explore themes of unity, connection and identity. The NHS mural will be installed on the two front vertical walls framing the entryway and the bollards at the roundabout entrance. Following the mural installation at NHS, mural artists will be working with JFK art teachers and students to install a connected mural in the exterior circular gathering space at the front of JFK. The two murals will connect thematically through color and forms to give a sense of continuity relating to the shifting discoveries and identities as the students move from middle school to high school.
The forms and color palette of the PLAY murals have come to life through a collection of school-wide student input surveys about their personal experiences with color relating to play, connections to culture, and associations of color to place and emotion. From this collection of data, the artists collaborated with each school community to design the two murals. The artists plan to document movement of the students’ bodies in relation to the two locations to capture the actual forms to be incorporated into the final mural designs.
During the installation week, small groups of students enrolled in art classes will be engaged in the installation process to learn mural skills and elements of the public art process. Flex Block will also offer an opportunity for students not enrolled in art classes to sign up to work with the muralists. All faculty are welcome to bring their classes outdoors throughout the week to engage in the mural process. Artists want to meet members of the NHS community and welcome classes of all subjects to stop by to engage in the mural making process. How might you participate? Come watch, ask questions, interview the artists, document what you see, make a video, write a poem about it, record something, draw a response, take some photos, sing or play for the muralists, enjoy lunch outside while you watch the mural take shape, or …! We would love to see classes from all content areas involved—this is a mural for all of us, the entire NHS community, and the artists hope that we can all find a moment to participate in some way even though there won’t be enough paintbrushes for all!
The Mural Schedule:
Sunday May 8 evening at dusk
Muralists will project/draw image onto faćade
All welcome to watch
Monday, May 9 – Friday, May 13
Artists onsite all day starting bright and early
Students in art classes assist with installation in small groups
All teachers are welcome to bring classes to watch and meet the muralists
Any questions about the NHS mural can be directed to Louise Martindell.