Creating art from broken glass, used tile and a little bit of magic
Students at Media-Providence Friends School dove into an under-the-sea art project this summer by creating an ocean-inspired mural.
The mural was the main component of a two-week art camp for Media-Providence Friends School Junior High students called Summer Synergy.
The mural is about 20-feet-long and four-feet-high and was created on a bare brick wall outside of the art classroom. Visible from the art room windows, it was installed on the wall near the school’s butterfly garden.
The students titled the project “The Sea of Reflection,” due to its blue hue and abstract mermaid-and-octopus theme.
Art teacher Karen Carbutt headed the project during the school’s Summer Synergy camp during the first two weeks of July.
Carbutt, who teaches students in kindergarten to eighth grade at Media-Providence, enjoys creating collaborative projects for her students in class.
During the camp, students designed and developed the entire mural themselves.
Students also took a trip to the magic mosaic garden located on South Street in Philadelphia that served as an inspiration for the two-week project. South Street’s magic mosaic garden and the school’s mural were both created by arranging different shaped tiles together like a puzzle.
Materials used for the project included mirrors, shells, glass, clay, broken pottery or china, and re-glazed old tiles. Clad in safety glasses and workgloves, students crafted their own tile creations by breaking mirrors and square tiles, then glazing the tiles in different colors. Students also molded clay into shapes of sea creatures.
The school did not need to purchase any materials — all the elements were donated or recycled.
Tiles and other materials for the mural were glued on the wall and later cemented with a blue-tinted grout mixture by the students.
Carbutt acted as an advisor throughout the camp, but mainly let students figure out the project on their own to provide them with a creative problem-solving exercise.
“They learned to collaborate, to brainstorm and think creatively and mathematically to fit the tile pieces together,” she said.
“It was a lot of work for five kids, but they stuck to it and came through. Overall it was a fun project,” Carbutt said of the mural.
Students also created individual mosaic projects on mason board with pieces of mirror and tiles at the camp so that they had an art project to take home.
This was the first year the school offered the art camp, which was intended for students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Media-Providence Friends School.
Seventh-grader Haley Peterson, 12, said she attended the camp because she is interested in art and enjoys creating new things.
Haley had never worked on a mosaic project before the summer camp but understood how to piece it together after viewing other artists’ mural art projects.
She and her classmates were excited to see the finished result of their work at the end of the camp.
“It was amazing to see that we did this. I really enjoyed working with the art teacher and the students. I liked working together to create something great for our school,” she said.
Carbutt is already eyeing up potential mural locations for next year’s camp.
The mural was the main component of a two-week art camp for Media-Providence Friends School Junior High students called Summer Synergy.
The mural is about 20-feet-long and four-feet-high and was created on a bare brick wall outside of the art classroom. Visible from the art room windows, it was installed on the wall near the school’s butterfly garden.
The students titled the project “The Sea of Reflection,” due to its blue hue and abstract mermaid-and-octopus theme.
Art teacher Karen Carbutt headed the project during the school’s Summer Synergy camp during the first two weeks of July.
Carbutt, who teaches students in kindergarten to eighth grade at Media-Providence, enjoys creating collaborative projects for her students in class.
During the camp, students designed and developed the entire mural themselves.
Students also took a trip to the magic mosaic garden located on South Street in Philadelphia that served as an inspiration for the two-week project. South Street’s magic mosaic garden and the school’s mural were both created by arranging different shaped tiles together like a puzzle.
Materials used for the project included mirrors, shells, glass, clay, broken pottery or china, and re-glazed old tiles. Clad in safety glasses and workgloves, students crafted their own tile creations by breaking mirrors and square tiles, then glazing the tiles in different colors. Students also molded clay into shapes of sea creatures.
The school did not need to purchase any materials — all the elements were donated or recycled.
Tiles and other materials for the mural were glued on the wall and later cemented with a blue-tinted grout mixture by the students.
Carbutt acted as an advisor throughout the camp, but mainly let students figure out the project on their own to provide them with a creative problem-solving exercise.
“They learned to collaborate, to brainstorm and think creatively and mathematically to fit the tile pieces together,” she said.
“It was a lot of work for five kids, but they stuck to it and came through. Overall it was a fun project,” Carbutt said of the mural.
Students also created individual mosaic projects on mason board with pieces of mirror and tiles at the camp so that they had an art project to take home.
This was the first year the school offered the art camp, which was intended for students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Media-Providence Friends School.
Seventh-grader Haley Peterson, 12, said she attended the camp because she is interested in art and enjoys creating new things.
Haley had never worked on a mosaic project before the summer camp but understood how to piece it together after viewing other artists’ mural art projects.
She and her classmates were excited to see the finished result of their work at the end of the camp.
“It was amazing to see that we did this. I really enjoyed working with the art teacher and the students. I liked working together to create something great for our school,” she said.
Carbutt is already eyeing up potential mural locations for next year’s camp.
