The Creation of the Obama Hope Mosaic at the Edward Everett Elementary
The story of how it took almost eight years and lots of people to complete a full length mosaic of Shepard Fairey's Hope poster artwork, a tribute to Barack Obama, the first African American president.
The year was 2008. 5th grade students at the Edward Everett School in Dorchester MA were working with their art teacher and thinking about what their legacy project, a creative and collaborative gift to the school from the fifth graders, might be. Previous examples had included the banners in the library and all of the wonderful mosaics out in front of the school.
President Obama had just won an historic election. The artist Shepard Fairey had created an iconic poster from a press photograph. Maybe it was time for a new mosaic on the building - the students agreed that the new president's image was a fitting subject and the work commenced.
The year was 2008. 5th grade students at the Edward Everett School in Dorchester MA were working with their art teacher and thinking about what their legacy project, a creative and collaborative gift to the school from the fifth graders, might be. Previous examples had included the banners in the library and all of the wonderful mosaics out in front of the school.
President Obama had just won an historic election. The artist Shepard Fairey had created an iconic poster from a press photograph. Maybe it was time for a new mosaic on the building - the students agreed that the new president's image was a fitting subject and the work commenced.
There was no kit. I designed everything myself. I made a grid. I blew the pictures up on the computer and generated a series of paper copies of sections of the poster. The final dimension of the poster was determined by the size of the window on the right of the entryway, the one that is bricked in. Each kid in the graduating class got a piece of paper and a tile. Each kid painted exactly what they saw on their 4x4 inch swatch. Larry Pryor, art teacher
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A few years passed. The tiles would appear and then somehow disappear before the project could be restarted. Finally in the fall of 2014, they were rediscovered, and the project was back on track. They had neither been glazed nor fired yet, but at least they existed. Several students in the after school program helped to add the glaze. The art teacher from the Epiphany School, Sierra Rothberg, agreed to fire the tiles in the Epiphany School kiln.
By April of 2015, the tiles were ready to assemble, but the puzzle was very difficult, and as it turned out, it would then take many additional hours and volunteers to figure it out.
April 18, 2015: One Boston Day
We were able to spell out the word Hope on the bottom, and figure the exact dimensions of the piece with the sides, but were having a lot of trouble filling in the interior. |
Early June 2015
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Late June 2015
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By September 1st, days before school would begin again, we were ready to mount the mosaic on the side of the Edward Everett Elementary building.
On April 15, 2016, the Edward Everett Elementary School in Dorchester celebrated the intersection of literacy and art. On our Day of Writing, every student from kindergarten to grade 5 composed a letter to President Obama inviting him to come to a dedication ceremony next fall of the new Obama Hope Mosaic.
We welcome individual support from the community in our campaign to bring President Obama to Dorchester!
Please use the donation link below to help us raise money for the Everett so that we can continue to maintain, improve and beautify the schoolyard as we educate our students about the natural and creative worlds.
Please specify the name: Friends of Everett Schoolyard, A/C # 38915
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/bedf
(Checks can also be made out to the Friends of the Everett Schoolyard and sent directly to the school at 71 Pleasant St, Dorchester, 02125.)
We welcome individual support from the community in our campaign to bring President Obama to Dorchester!
Please use the donation link below to help us raise money for the Everett so that we can continue to maintain, improve and beautify the schoolyard as we educate our students about the natural and creative worlds.
Please specify the name: Friends of Everett Schoolyard, A/C # 38915
https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/bedf
(Checks can also be made out to the Friends of the Everett Schoolyard and sent directly to the school at 71 Pleasant St, Dorchester, 02125.)
Many thanks to all the people who helped to bring this project to fruition including the Everett 5th grade class of
2008-09, artists Larry Pryor, Ellen Pierce, Liz Carney, and Sierra Rothberg, and puzzle volunteers Sara Gardner, Mary O'Connor and Dianna Wilson.
We couldn't have done it without you,
but at least we had Hope ....
2008-09, artists Larry Pryor, Ellen Pierce, Liz Carney, and Sierra Rothberg, and puzzle volunteers Sara Gardner, Mary O'Connor and Dianna Wilson.
We couldn't have done it without you,
but at least we had Hope ....
Art has always been important at the Everett, and the schoolyard represents a place where art and nature intersect in all their glory.
Webpage designed and created by Alicia Zipp
For more information about the Everett Schoolyard, please contact her at [email protected]
For more information about the Everett Schoolyard, please contact her at [email protected]