A while back I spent an artist residency at Claysburg Kimmel High School, working with a group of seniors on a mural that will be their legacy to the school after they graduate.
We had a ton of fun and despite the serious senior-itis they were all experiencing (it was their final project before graduation), we got a lot done.
We started our process by talking about their class and what message they wanted to leave behind as they moved on.
They talked about how they were all individuals, coming from different backgrounds before starting school together. Being a small rural community, most of these kids have known each other for most of their lives, but school has been their rock keeping them together. They are now ready to move on and off into different directions.
From this conversation we talked about the metaphor of the tree, and how the roots were their individual identities, the trunk was their time together in school and the branches were their future paths as they take what they have learrned and move on.
They loved this idea and we ran with it in the creation of our work.
They really wanted to incorporate all the members of their senior class in the symbolism, so they decided to include things like their class flower and articles from the newspaper. They also decided to include the names of the entire senior class in the grass around the roots of the tree. They invited every member of the senior class to add to the tree top, and we created circles for them to fill in with oil pastels and watercolor paint. 
We explored the concept of mixed media and they did everything from designing the work to creating painted papers to finding newspaper images to drawing to painting to collaging. They worked collaboratively and regularly engaged in critical conversations to make sure that the work was progressing the way they wanted it to. they were able to self-evaluate and to change course when things went awry. I was so impressed with their dedication to the project and their ability to work together to make something amazing.
I loved working with this group and am so excited by their final piece.
