Eighth Grade Art Project Educates and Inspires

If you’ve strolled through the breezeway that connects the middle school and high school, you’ve likely marveled at the “Habits of Mind Heroes Walkway,” an innovative 21^st century art project constructed by last year’s eighth grade class.

Eighth grade art teacher, Rebecca Schwarz, said the 16-columned concept was a pretty “basic” idea. She wanted to create an outdoor mural that would inspire both her students and passersby. So, Schwarz invited professional artist Andrea Kantrowitz to guide the students in crafting portraits of their heroes, from Harriet Tubman to Amelia Earhart.

“They decided on the heroes, then they conducted research about each person,” Schwarz noted during a Board of Education meeting earlier this month. “They also needed to figure out what kinds of images they were going to use for these murals.”

After deciding which heroes to depict, the students took on varying tasks. Some took on the role of portraiture and others helped paint the surrounding images.

Nelson Garcia, a ninth grader at PMHS, worked on the mural last year and noted that the project was particularly rewarding for him, since he had just moved to Pelham and it gave him a chance to bond with his classmates.

“It was a big deal to me,” Garcia said. “I always had something I wanted to draw—to write down and color. It’s better in art class than on your homework. It’s always good to have friends to help motivate.”

Board members were impressed with, and bit surprised to learn, just how much work this mural required.

“I always admired it, but didn’t appreciate quite what an undertaking it was,” said board member William Cavanagh.

The current eighth grade class is working on a mural centered on “Pelham Pride,” which will be prominently displayed in the Pelham Middle School lobby. The students are in the process of making tiles, which will be fired in a kiln, and pieced together to feature a circle with a pelican in the center.

“It’s going to be very unique and it’s going stand out,” Schwarz said.