Art Room Mosaic: A Community Art Project
Written by Mrs. Corrina Cameron, Teacher
The Grade 11 Art class recently completed a very ambitious community art project. They created an 80 square foot mosaic backsplash in our art room!
The Challenge
The challenge for students was to design, create, and take part in a community art project. Each student had to contribute equally, doing their part to make this class project happen. This project allowed students to express themselves individually as part of a collective.
The Inspiration
In November, students went on a tour of the mosaics in Old East Village by Susan Day and community. During this tour, they learned about how these mosaics benefited the local community by bringing diverse groups of people together, providing ways for them to connect and feel rooted in London.
The Design
Now inspired, students proposed designs for the new art room backsplash and voted on their favourite. The winning design was by Halli:
Our class mosaic backsplash includes themes such as identity, mental health and environment. The theme of environment is represented by the waves, and within the waves each student has created tiles that are unique to them and shows their identity. The mirror strips also represent identity because we can see our reflection when looking at the mirror. Mental health is also represented by the waves because of the ups and downs of waves and mental health. High school students go through good times and stressful times which aligns with the waves. – Halli, Grade 11 Art Student
The Process
Next, they created their own tiles out of clay. They carved them or stamped them with the help of stamps they created with the 3D printer. Then they fired the tiles and glazed them by hand. Since they couldn’t create enough tiles for the whole wall, they prepared filler tiles from Habitat for Humanity London ReStores and donated mirror. Once all the tiles were ready, students then stuck the tiles on the wall during exams.
The Community
However, it wouldn’t be a community art project without community support. The project was taking longer than expected to complete, so staff, alumni, and other students joined in and finished it just before second semester started! Thank you to everyone who helped with this project! In total, we had over 25 people work on this mosaic! Beautiful things come out of community art. Now the LCH community can enjoy this art piece for years to come!
London Clay Art Centre
www.londonclayartcentre.org
www.susandayceramics.com
