From the artist who used to walk the halls to the familiar scenic landscape to the hundreds of little hands that touched every square corner, community is at the heart of a new legacy mosaic that will welcome visitors to Elizabeth Barrett Elementary School for years to come.
“Every time you look at that painting, you can remember you’re part of a community,” teacher Jessica Powers told an assembly of excited students Monday morning at the unveiling of the artwork.
“Without you, the community wouldn’t be complete.”
Powers conceived of the mosaic project last year to coincide with the school’s celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. She wanted children to understand the importance of the sum being larger than its parts; that everyone has a role to play in any system’s success.
She learned the lesson herself pretty quickly when she realized she would need help to take her idea from conception to the canvas. So Powers approached Carly Marciniak of Cochrane’s Final Touch Art Studios to guide the artistic process – not only for her creative expertise, but also because of her connection to the community as an alumnus of the school.
More than 20 years ago, Marciniak attended Elizabeth Barrett from kindergarten to Grade 4.
“This school has a history of trying to create moments for the future,” said the 30-year-old, whose own childhood artwork still graces the top border of a hallway. “It’s really exciting.”
Principal Susan Parker said the next step was to decide upon the design of the mural, and the group chose a landscape of the Cochrane Ranche grasslands, with the specific perspective looking over a hill with mountains in the distance.
“We wanted it to be a local scene … we wanted it to be an Elizabeth Barrett view,” she said.
Marciniak then painted a smaller version of the scene and Powers blew up the image to the final size of approximately 3-by-5.5 feet. She then measured and cut it into an astounding 704 two-by-two inch squares.
As work was being done to prepare the larger piece, Elizabeth Barrett students were grasping the concept by recreating smaller mosaics of works by famous Canadian artists like Kim Hunter and Nicholas Bott.
Once everyone was ready, the school’s 613 students – along with staff members, volunteers and anyone else who helped work on the project – each received a section of the painting and a porcelain tile to make their contribution to the piece.
Marciniak said the kids brought a wonderful energy to the project.
“I just always love working with kids,” she said. “They are so inspired and so inspiring.”
Once the squares were painted and prepared, artist Tracy Franks carefully mounted each onto a canvas for final installation. The colourful mosaic – which greets visitors in the entryway of the school – was revealed to students on Monday.
After the unveiling, kids crowded around the artwork, pointing at different sections and proudly sharing with their friends which piece of the pattern was theirs.
Parker said she was thrilled to see the students’ response to the mosaic, and she plans to place the imagery onto postcards and bookmarks to give as gifts to a group of students leaving Elizabeth Barrett in June and transferring to Glenbow School in the fall.
“Memories are created from an emotional attachment,” she said. “We wanted to give them a memory.”
