I conducted a two-week residency at Seneca Elementary School in March 2002. Students, grades kindergarten through 8th, designed and painted a large indoor wall mural. The completed mural measured approximately 12 feet wide by 8 feet high.
Seneca is a small rural school. Total student population is 43. Four teachers conduct lessons for at least two grade levels in the same room (for example, 3rd and 4th grade students shared the same room and teacher.) In this atmosphere of sharing across age groups, the mural project became a team effort for all students. All took ownership in the mural and older students had to be willing to accept kindergarteners' skill level work as part of the imagery.
During the first week of the residency, each class participated in a discussion about safety issues and material concerns. Art terminology and some broad conceptual issues were also introduced. Next, the students brainstormed ideas for a mural theme, elements, and composition. Prior to the start of my residency, all students had attended a Seneca history lecture and slide presentation by a local historian. The mural's theme, "Seneca, A Logging Company Town," was based upon that presentation and independent student research.
LEFT:
Students apply intial color layers over the reddish brown base coat.
BELOW:
Students invent simulated texture through the use of color to simulate rusted metal on the wigwam wood burner associated with the lumber mill(1); gravel, mud and vehicle wheel ruts (2); and roof shingles (3). Throughout the mural, students learned the color wheel and basic color theory appropriate for their grade-level.
RIGHT:
Details from the mural.
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Each detail demonstrates
how students adjusted their
marks (lines and color fields)
as the painting progressed,
leaving several underlying
marks/color to show through
subsequent layers.
In the bottom detail,
my painted contribution
to the mural---
a longjohn-clad chap
in a dash from cheese box
to privy!
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(3)
(1)
BELOW: Three photos showing about one third
of the mural in each. The mural's location (hallway)
made photographing the image in its entirety difficult.
LEFT:
This is the mural's far left third.
Among the images depicted are:
The historic logging camp
Traditional horse team logging
Wigwam burner
Silvies River
Logging trucks
Sawyers
Ponderosa pine
Loggers going to work on a bus (which is historically known as a "crummy")
and
Thermometer (showing Seneca's record cold date and temperature.)
LEFT:
This is the mural's middle third.
Among the images depicted are:
The historic trains and train shed
Logging cat
The company store complex
The hotel
and
The tiny yellow loggers' quarters, known as "cheese boxes."
LEFT:
The mural's far right third.
Among the images depicted are:
The historic trains and train shed
The hotel
School house
Lumber mill
Manager's house
Old Jud (horse)
Company swimming pool
and
The city hall.
BELOW:
The next series of images are progressively closer photos of the horse team. This area of the mural provided a good example of how students experimented with linear marks and various methods of color application.
LEFT:
The overlapped lines and color were especially interesting in this horse's head and ear.
Multiple lines create the illusion of movement.
LEFT:
An example of how colors were washed over underlying colors and
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