The
Great Walls of Happiness
General Wolfe Elementary School, Upper Fells Point
General Wolfe Elementary School, Upper Fells Point
Students
at this small school had no art classes that year.
The principal asked me to work with 6 children --
those best at art -- to enliven the dark bare
concrete entrance to the school. Instead, I asked
if I could work with ALL of the kids of this
diverse student body. She agreed, and with the help
of a teacher who scheduled the art sessions, 217
clay tiles were hand made and glazed by every
child, the teachers and the staff. They were simply
asked to create something that made them happy. No
one had a difficult time coming up with something!
Two union bricklayers donated their time to set the
tiles on the walls. Ceramic artist Wayne Bean
helped with the clay sessions. And over 60 people
-- most from the neighborhood -- helped in some
way. My Mosaic Art Crew, teens from the South East
Youth Academy, helped put a glittering mosaic tile
boarder around the walls. The words of poet
Langston Hughes now welcome visitors: "All you who
are dreamers too, / we reach out our dreams to you
/ help us to make our world anew."
A
collaborative school and community project. Ceramic
tiles with ceramic tile mosaic borders. 2 walls:
10' by 8' and 7' by 8'.
