Brooks art teacher Kristi Murray led 25 students this winter in creating phase two of the fabulous mosaic in a hallway that the entire student body uses every day at lunchtime. Her art club was co- taught by guest mosaic artist Sue Coombs, with help from student teacher Lana Bjornson. A few other teachers got involved as well as parents in expanding last year's work to a 60 square foot design. "I really wanted this to be a community event so all of the Brooks community could be a part of it," said Ms. Murray. "We tell the students they can come back to Brooks and show their grandchildren the mosaic. That's how long this will last."

The Brooks Mosaic Mural was sponsored by BRAVO, the Oak Park Education Foundation as well as Brooks activity funds. Almost all of tiles were donated by parents and local design firms. The leftover pieces will be put to good use in art classes.

The mosaic's "Green" theme was exciting, educational and inspiring. The most challenging part of the project, according to Ms. Murray, was building understanding of the technique compared to other types of artwork. The negative space does not become a blank area or one large overall color (like a painting) but instead is all mosaic tiles. Craftsmanship is also a challenge; creating really neat and well-made work takes time and dedication. All the participating students love art and the communal connections they make in the mosaic art club, and took seriously the permanent nature of the mosaic.

Visiting artist Sue Coombs was expert at choosing the best materials for each area. For example: a real fork for the "fork in the road," circular glass gems cut in half and turned on end to look like fish scales, directional changes in the glass tiles to show the flow of water, mirrors for bike spokes. "Sue is truly the expert and I, along with the students, am learning so much about this wonderful medium," said Ms. Murray.

Click here to see a slideshow of photos from the project by Ms. Murray.



 

Ms. Thomas, 3rd-grade teacher at Hatch, rubbed her hands together. She asked her students why her hands scrape against each other and why they get warm and fatigued as she rubbed. Ms. Thomas was demonstrating the concept of friction and the students were soon going to experiment with how to reduce friction to make work easier using . . . LEGOs.

Like all District 97 third graders, these students at Hatch were using LEGOs to build simple machines as part of OPEF's Geared Up program. Constructing everything from simple levers to more complicated fly-wheels, students have had the chance to experiment with how these machines are constructed and why they work. In Ms. Thomas' class on this February afternoon, the kids were building wheels and axles and in the process learning how wheels reduce friction to make work, and life, a lot easier!

The Geared Up program complements the 3rd graders' DeltaScience unit on Force and Motion. As Lena B. explained, they were working with the LEGOs "to learn more about simple machines and how we use them, like when we drive we wouldn't be able to move without them."

Understanding the relevance of what they are learning in science and with Geared Up, Zeevie D. pointed out that they are "fixing the church across the street [from Hatch] and they are using levers to pick things up so they don't have to carry them up."

By experimenting with different size wheels and axles, the students see what works and what doesn't, why our simple machines are built the way they are. Rees V. was working with his partner on their wheel and axle model. He discovered that by "switching out the shorter axle for a longer one it is easier to turn."

In another experiment, Kennedy O. observed that the addition of one small piece to the axle allowed the wheels to run more smoothly because with it the wheels and axle turn together.

The class as a whole discussed their findings near the end of the session. One student noted the relationship that they started the class with, that between friction and the wheels: It would take more energy and more time to move a load without the wheels and axles helping to do the work.

When asked why they were getting to play with LEGOs in school, Rees V. said, "So we can learn how to build harder, better machines when we get older."



 

Join us for the 17th annual William C. Staszak Award Dinner and Benefit, Saturday April 30, honoring Oak Park entrepreneur, developer and philanthropist Mary Jo Schuler.

It's always a good time! The evening begins at 6 p.m. with cocktails and a silent auction. The silent auction will close at 7:30 p.m. when we move to a lovely, seated dinner, short award presentation, and live auction with emcee Lynda Shadrake -- actress, teacher and improv comedienne. Both silent and live auctions will include many new, unique items including parties with renowned chefs, sports tickets, and exciting trips.

Tickets will sell for $125 each, with tables of 10 for $1,250. We also have sponsorship and advertising opportunities. Invitations are being mailed this week and online reservations will be available on March 21. For more information, call (708) 524-3023 or email dabrahamson@op97.org.



 

The mallet came down with a crack on the piece of tile hidden inside a towel. Unfolding the towel, local artist Jill Kramer revealed dozens of fragments that could now be used to create a tile mosaic. She was showing students in all four 2nd grade classes at Holmes how to make mosaics as part of OPEF's Art Start program.

"This is 'show-and-tell day,'" Ms. Kramer told Ms. Shearrill's 2nd graders, showing them the diversely shaped tile fragments of which mosaics are made. Ms. Kramer also talked about pebbles, rocks, and specialized Italian glass called "smalti" that have been used for millennia to make mosaics.

Previously, in her first session with each class in February, Ms. Kramer introduced the role that mosaics played in ancient and contemporary art. Kyla S. liked the project because "we are learning about something that has been done for generations and generations and now we are getting a chance to do it!"

The decision to do mosaics, Ms. Kramer explained, grew partly out of the teachers' request to help students see connections between art and math concepts. So the first activity was a construction-paper mosaic with symmetrical sides.

During the second session, Ms. Shearrill's students worked with large sheets of black paper and colored squares, which they could use as is or could cut into different shapes and sizes. "The black paper represents the grout in between, so leave some space between your tiles," Ms. Kramer reminded them.

The students were free to create whatever design they wanted. "This is a chance for you to use your imagination. There is not a right or wrong with this," she told them. For Lucy B., this was the best part of the project--"The teacher doesn't have to tell you what to do."

By the beginning of March, all four classes were working with the hard materials--beads, split peas, and the like--to create 3D mosaics in the shapes of animals, inspired by their literature unit on camouflage. In Ms. Merz's class, students were choosing and manipulating their "tesserae," the "little things, bits we are using to make our mosaics," 2nd-grader Chloe G. explained.

Josh H., who was creating a mosaic octopus, said he liked working with the tesserae since "the other ones were just paper squares and these things are all different." He also announced that he had "figured out the strategy: Put bigger pillows of glue down to make it faster and easier to cover the whole thing!" He was responding to Ms. Kramer's directive that "mosaics don't have big empty spaces."

Julez T. was working on a mosaic woodcock, carefully placing his tesserae on the board with only grout lines of glue in between. He first experimented, however: "You can see how it would look without the glue first and then if you like it, you can put the glue down."

Before they were finished, Ms. Kramer said, "You know what every artist does before they say they are all done? They contemplate. They ask, 'Is it really done?'"

Ms. Kramer is currently completing a masters in art education at the School of the Art Institute. Her background is in printmaking, and she continues this art form on a small press in her above-garage studio. She has worked with Art Start several times before, doing printmaking with D97 students.

Click here to see more photos by Angela Farnham, or click here to listen to a voicethread of Ms. Merz's 2nd graders describing and showing their work.