Elementary School Mural at Henry Barnard
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Time to read 1 min
An elementary school mural that highlights students' favorite parts of school
Client: Henry Barnard School
Location: East Providence, RI
Date: April 2024
Size: 10' x 10'
Elementary School Mural Brief
I had so much fun painting this mural — at TWO of my Alma Maters! The elementary school I attended recently joined with my high school, so I’m a double alum of Henry Barnard and Providence Country Day.
The schools were looking for ways to celebrate the history and legacy of Henry Barnard and lift up its new collaboration with Providence Country Day. The hallways featured student work, but were otherwise lacking a little bit of either schools' vibrant characters. The school leadership knew they wanted colorful and fun artwork that would liven the halls and highlight both schools and their new partnership.
Elementary school murals are a great way to promote specific messages to students, parents, and staff through visual metaphor. And in this case, there was lots of student input!
The Inspiration
School staff knew they wanted a tree, both because of its clear symbolism of growth and learning, and also because there had been a tree mural at the old Henry Barnard location. Having a tree was important to the living memory of the school community.
School is about so much more than pencils and pens! I had a fun idea to include different school related items growing from the tree. We asked the students what kinds of things made them think of school, and here are some of their responses:
🍎 An Apple
❤️ A heart to represent the love in the building
😊 A smile face to show happiness
🐝 Bees to represent helpers
👑 A knight for PCD knights
🔤 Alphabet letters
⭐️ Star because they are all shining stars
✏️ A pencil
📕 A book
The students helped to customize their new school mural by participating in the design process and making it feel unique to their environment!
Conclusion
Check out the timelapse of my painting process for this fun elementary school mural!
I had a fantastic time bringing color and story to two of my alma maters! It was such a joy to interact with students of all ages and answer questions about working as a muralist and all of the tools of the trade. This elementary school mural brought a lot of color to the empty hall and celebrated a new partnership between two legacy institutions.
