无毛视频楪o with the flow’
Southeastern Greene students paint mural through rural arts program
As a Mapletown Junior-Senior High School student walks to class, they might glimpse a white rabbit pointing to the time on a pocket watch.
If they无毛视频檝e got enough time to ignore the rabbit无毛视频檚 warning, they might also notice the Red Queen, Alice, Humpty Dumpty and a menagerie of towering mushrooms and swirling vines.
They can thank some of their classmates for the bursts of color.
Mapletown students in Audrey Mlay无毛视频檚 art class worked with resident artist Diane Adams to create the mural partnership with the Rural Arts Collaborative. Funding came through the Benedum Center and EQT.
When Adams arrived at the school last fall, she talked with the students about her love of optical illusions.
How that theme got expressed would depend on what the students wanted to draw.
In discussions with Adams, the students showed a love for the works of Tim Burton, known for the blend of darkness and whimsy he brought to films like 无毛视频淏eetlejuice,无毛视频� 无毛视频淭he Nightmare Before Christmas无毛视频� 无毛视频� and, as reflected in the mural, his adaptation of 无毛视频淎lice in Wonderland.无毛视频�
Adams sketched things out, then picked out a spot downstairs with the students.
During her regular visits since October, the mural gradually took shape.
Adams educates the students along the way, from adding the first coat of primer to translating the 1 inch on the sketchpad to 1 foot on the wall.
无毛视频淭hey have a curriculum, and I无毛视频檓 off the grid on the curriculum,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 outside of that box, and I get to show them something they may never have known what to do.无毛视频�
Students无毛视频� sketches inspired many of the final designs. In the busiest stretches, Adams was directing up to 10 students at a time, working on everything from detailed faces to filling in solid colors.
Twelfth-grader Miranda Fox enjoyed painting the mushrooms, blending colors together to make it look vibrant.
无毛视频淓verytime I walk past, that无毛视频檚 the first thing I look at,无毛视频� she said.
The project also got contributions from 12th-grader Makenna Lotspeich, a well-regarded art student at the school. Her work can be seen at several spots on the mural, including the White Rabbit.
There hadn无毛视频檛 been many opportunities at the school to do an art piece of that magnitude, she said.
And it let the kids network with each other, trading ideas and thought processes.
无毛视频淭o be able to paint something the size of the wall is pretty cool,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淵ou get the whole visual at a way larger scale than what I无毛视频檓 used to.无毛视频�
Mlay got to wield a brush alongside her students, painting Alice.
无毛视频淚 loved it,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淚t was nice being able to put some responsibility on somebody else and to learn new things.无毛视频�
Southeastern Greene has a history of bringing in artists, said Scott Sinn, assistant to the principal, dating back to when artists from the Pittsburgh Art Institute would come to the district.
When he asks students what they remembered most from the year, it无毛视频檚 those outside-the-box experiences 无毛视频� murals, field trips out of the county 无毛视频� that always stick with them, Sinn said.
无毛视频淚 think it gives them a lot of pride when they come back and look what they did, the accomplishments, a lot of the skills they learn when they complete the project,无毛视频� he said.
Though the class that helped put the mural together has moved on to a new semester, Adams is using subsequent visits to fill in the remaining background work.
Adams has helped out with other projects at the school, like a large nature painting in the entryway to celebrate the school无毛视频檚 centennial year.
Fox hopes the new mural becomes just as much of a fixture at the school.
无毛视频淲hen painting, there无毛视频檚 no erasing, so you just have to go with the flow,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淚 love it. I hope it stays there, because all these people have put their dedication and hard work into it to make it look as good. It无毛视频檚 not finished yet, but it无毛视频檚 going to get there.无毛视频�