GROWTH AND CHANGE: A Ceramic Mural

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

Pablo Picasso

 

 

Children’s artwork is often discredited and more than often gets tossed away. My goal is to preserve their precious images in a place where the public can appreciate and enjoy it. I would like to give a chance to the children producing the work today to revisit their work as they grow to be adults, as a way to reconnect with the child they were.

Ruth Shouval

 

 

 

  

 

As an artist and art teacher I am continually amazed by children's art. I find their work to be inspiring. Child art continues to be a source of motivation for my own artwork. A child's art, whether it be made with simple strokes of a pencil or bold brushstrokes of paintbrush offers a unique interpretation of the world: a truthfulness of the world. Often a child's art is dismissed as simplistic and insignificant. But it is this simple and less calculated approach of art making that gives it purity and meaning. Young children make artwork without hesitation. I hope to encourage the children of our school to continue to create art with the same spontaneity and innocence that is already exhibited in their work and that their passion for art will continue throughout their lives.

Louise Brown  

 

 

A PROPOSAL FOR AN ART PROJECT WITH THE STUDENTS OF KOLTER ELEMENTRY SCHOOL FOR THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SCHOOL.- A ceramic mural for the front entrance of the building, which will record and celebrate the growth process; both mental and physical, of a child.

The mural will include figures of children standing in line holding hands placed in order from young (kindergarten) to older (6th grade). The figures will be based on the actual size of a child in each specific grade, which will be done by tracing a student. The figures standing together will form a growth curve.

Ceramic pieces made by the students will be installed on a cement-board, which will then be connected to the wall of the building. In case a new building for the school will be built (which knowing Houston is quite likely) it will provide an easy way of transferring the artwork to the new building. Each cement-board panel will include work from a single grade level. Naturally, each panel will reflect that specific age group: the student’s physical height, motor skills, and mental development. Lining up the different panels will represent the growth process that takes place in elementary school. A wooden frame will surround the mural, a measuring rod will be placed on the side of the frame, inviting the viewers to measure their height and encouraging them to interact with the artwork.

Each traced figure will be composed of a collection the student’s clay self-portraits united by the same glaze; together forming a real size silhouette of a child. My aim is to create a mural that has an interesting composition from a distance as well as a rich close up view of the details of the children’s artwork. The child will be able to trace his own ceramic self-portrait; a protrait that will become part of a collective artwork.

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Contact:

Ruth Shouval: rutie.shouval@gmail.com

Louise Brown: LBROWN6@houstonisd.org