Like birds on a hippo!

Today we continued to work on cleaning and preparing tiles for bisque firing. I find the repetition and attention to detail meditative. It made me think of how some birds perch on hippos backs and then eat the insects they find there, essentially providing nature's very own cleansing skin service for the hippos.

When the tiles are dry enough, the clay "boogers" - little globs on top of the surface displaced during the carving process - have to be removed.

The excess clay scrapes right off.

We also pulled our first batch of test tiles from the kiln with 1/2 of our color palette!

Another Successful Workshop at Evergreen

Woodbury City Public School District Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

Woodbury City Public School District

25 N. Broad Street

Woodbury, NJ 08096

For Immediate Release

Denise Currie, Communications Coordinator

Woodbury City Public School District                                      

Phone:  856.853.0123 x 372

Fax:  856.853.2684   

dcurrie@woodburysch.com

www.woodburysch.com

Woodbury’s Evergreen Avenue Elementary School

Receives Funding for Mosaic Project

Woodbury, New Jersey – February 12, 2013.  The Woodbury City Public School District is pleased to announce that the Evergreen Avenue Elementary School has procured funds to begin a mosaic arts project that will encompass one exterior school wall facing Evergreen Avenue. 

Funds for this project have been awarded through several generous grants from the Gloucester County Cultural and Heritage Commission, as well as the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders via a grant from the NJ Juvenile Justice Commission. The Gloucester County Youth Services Commission was the grant administrator and recommended this project to the Freeholders.

In addition, the project has garnered interest from school neighbor, Related Management – Woodlake/Lakeside Apartments, which has also donated funds toward the project. 

After an extensive artist search and request for proposals, Jennie Shanker and Emily Squires, two well-respected, creative artists from Philadelphia, were chosen to helm the project. Shanker and Squires have met with school administrators, donors, faculty, and students to develop a sketch for the proposed mosaic, which has a reading and literacy theme. They have also begun student workshops to create the tiles that will help bring the mosaic to life.

Shanker and Squires have created a design that “celebrates reading as something that allows the viewer to enter into wondrous imaginary worlds, as well as into our own future in the real world.” 

The mosaic was the idea of principal, Jason Vivadelli. Vivadelli envisioned an eye-catching design on the outside of the school, brought to life by students’ artwork. He hopes it will be a focal point of the school and make students, parents, and community members proud.  

“We wanted a permanent piece of artwork on the front of our school that would inspire and communicate the importance and power of reading,” Vivadelli said.  “As we’ve moved into the actual tile creation phase, it has been such a joy to see the smiles on our students faces as they create a legacy that will remain here at Evergreen long after they leave.”

The mosaic, expected to be completed by May, will be installed with the help of parent and other volunteers, Woodbury Junior-Senior High School students, as well as representatives of the Restorative Justice Group, a division of the NJ Juvenile Justice Commission.

To see a rendering of the proposed mosaic, as well as photos from school workshops, visit the project’s blog at http://evergreenmural.blogspot.com/.

Woodbury City Public School District, located in Woodbury, New Jersey, is a “Leader in Personalized Education.” Our comprehensive curriculum, numerous Advanced Placement courses, AVID and Option II programs, outstanding athletic teams, and visual and performing arts department offer students from elementary school to high school with the opportunity for individual successes in and out of the classroom. Visit us at www.woodburysch.com.

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In the Studio...

There's a lot of work that has to be done before the tiles are glazed and fired:

Tiles in the studio, drying in racks

Cleaning the surface of the tiles and gouging the backs to create extra traction once they are installed on the wall

Tiles drying (again!)

Once fully dried, the tiles are scraped to remove excess clay and to make the text more readable

January Clay Workshop

On January 31st, 2013, Evergreen students participated in clay workshops with the artists. Using designs worked on with their teachers, each student created a tile that will ultimately be a book spine in the mosaic mural.

Here's a few pics from that day: