One of my favorite memories of being in school was the opportunity to join all kinds of clubs and really learn about my interests, practice new skills, and be with my friends. My favorite club that I was in was the football team. The Mural Club at Incarnate Word Academy, in Parma Heights, is not only learning how to paint murals as a group, but they’re making a park in Northeast Ohio, even more colorful and vibrant.
The club, which is open to sixth through eighth graders, began meeting two years ago with support from a local lead artist, Bernadette Glorioso, on phase one of the project. This past year they began phase two: designing a pair of murals, each about one hundred feet long, for the north and south sides of a pedestrian tunnel at a local park.The group employed a design process that relied heavily on brainstorming, collaborating, and research. Does that sound like an approach you’ve used to solve a problem or to create something? The students told us that they came up with all kinds of Northeast Ohio and Lake Erie themes for the murals. They decided that both murals would feature plants and animals native to their community. Magdalene, a sixth grader, told us that she was really interested in researching what animals to feature and really enjoyed learning more about the great cormorant, which I had to research myself. It’s a big heavy sea bird with a long neck and hooked beak.
Luke, who is also a sixth grader, told us that the mural is being painted on weather proof panels that are about eight feet long. He explained that the tunnel’s walls are currently covered in tiles that are in pretty bad shape. The panels will be mounted over the top of the tiles and won’t be damaged by all of the water that sometimes seeps into the tunnel.
Ava, who is in eighth grade, told us that the design process took a really long time. They even met throughout the summer to make sure they were able to finish the mural before their deadline, which was this past Monday! Ava went on to tell us that one of the key lessons she learned was more about teamwork than art! She explained that without teamwork and collaboration, they never would have been able to finish either mural. She told us that she learned a lot about being a leader and about persistence.
Magdalene added that she learned that you have to always believe in yourself and even though the job seems hard, if you’re dedicated and work hard, you’ll be successful. She also was thankful, as an artist, for all of the new techniques she learned in painting. Luke told us that his biggest lesson in all of this was that ideas always get better and better when you include others and respect everyone’s contributions. In fact, this led to and inspired an all-school collaborative project in the new library with an integrated mural. The entire I - W - A school community was welcome to participate.
This week’s A+ Award goes to the Mural Club at Incarnate Word Academy for making their school and community even more beautiful. We’ll check back in with the club to see the final product once it’s on display at Huntington Reservation, in Cuyahoga County.
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