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Project Goal

“When you think about the purposes of education, there are three," Tom Horne, educational superintendent in Arizona says. "We're preparing kids for jobs. We're preparing them to be citizens. And we're teaching them to be human beings who can enjoy the deeper forms of beauty. The third is as important as the other two."

The art program at Nelson Elementary School in Dover Florida is requesting $323.41 to create a public art piece on campus.

The artwork has been planned by compiling the thoughts and input from the students themselves. The piece, a set of painted Eagle wings, will be an artwork that children, parents, staff and community members can interact with my standing in front of the piece to make it appear as if the individual has wings. During the second phase of this project, students will be measuring, drawing, painting and helping to install this one-of-a-kind artwork that will be a source of pride and connection to their school and community for years to come. This artwork will be created and installed this school year.

Nelson Elementary School was built in 2003 and at that time, murals were created in the media center and cafeteria. Student made tiles were attached to the building. Small stained-glass windows were created for the small media center windows. Since then, no permanent art installments have been added to enrich the campus. In a reflection activity at the end of last school year, students stated the desire to create their own artwork to add to the goal of school beautification. Student quotes included that they wanted to make these projects “so that it can be a fun/cool school to go to”. They added thoughts like “ Around the school we could write quotes to make people feel better with different types of art (like graffiti) and the elements of art”, “we could make a mural that inspires kids to learn”, and many students mentioned their eagerness to see more color and Eagle art around the campus.
 

 

Category

Other -  

 

How Project Benefits Students

Historically public art has been a crucial part of building community member’s sense of belonging and their connection to the global human experience. According to the website Americansforthearts.com the importance of public art is as follows: “Art in public spaces plays a distinguishing role in our country’s history and culture. It reflects and reveals our society, enhances meaning in our civic spaces, and adds uniqueness to our communities. Public art humanizes the built environment. It provides an intersection between past, present, and future; between disciplines and ideas. Public art matters because our communities gain cultural, social, and economic value through public art.” In addition, it goes on to state that “Public art directly influences how people see and connect with a place, providing access to aesthetics that support its identity and making residents feel appreciated and valued. Aesthetics is one of the top three characteristics why residents attach themselves to a community.” The importance of public art being added to our shared school spaces is not so much measured by numerical, plottable goals. However, it is our goal at Nelson to not only provide a safe space for our students to learn, but a campus that is visually appealing and makes our students excited about their school and make it a place they want to be.
 

 

Expected Outcome(s)

This project has expected outcomes that surpass what can be measured. In an article published on Edutopia.com, with information compiled and written by Fran Smith, public art in schools is influential because: “Public art in schools is closely linked to academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity. It can support students' social and emotional learning needs, including teaching emotional regulation and compassion for others. Additionally, it provides an outlet for students to process their emotions following trauma and build resiliency”. In alignment with this data, we believe that the impact that Public Art has on our greater school community touches every individual that comes into our space. In addition to the goal of having the art refresh and improve our campus, completing and installing these artworks demonstrates the power and necessity of advocacy. Through student’s imagination, brainstorming, planning, and speaking out about the kind of place they would like to learn at every day, our students will be empowered by witnessing the creative process unfold. This will inevitably foster a sense of ownership and pride for their school and the power of seeing their thoughts turn into a reality that improves the experiences of the greater school community. Making the connection between creating art, displaying art and how art improves an environment is an integral part of art education and art advocacy. Because the outcome of this project is a bit different than something that can be graded or measured on a traditional scale, our outcome report will include feedback from students that work on and benefit from having the art be a part of their school campus. 

 

Detailed Cost Summary

Paint and painting supplies to create the mural are inventoried here. Prices from Home Depot effective 9/23 

 

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