Chesapeake Academy Art Murals, 2008
The Middle School emphasizes a character theme throughout the year and this year’s theme is “Courage”. Each middle school class paints a mural which is a visual representation of the character theme, with an emphasis on a specific area of education such as physical, academic, social, and moral education. This year, the style of painting in each mural represents the style of a specific artist, and also addresses the key word within the area of the “Courage” character theme.
5th Grade
Key Word: Physical Theme: Courage
Fifth grade chose to interpret the key word, “physical” with reference to courage, as the ability to physically try something new. Students studied the work of African American artist and author Faith Ringgold, specifically focusing on two works, “The Dinner Quilt” and “The Sunflowers Quilting Bee at Arles”. Ringgold’s most renowned works are her story quilts and students have patterned this mural after the composition of “The Dinner Quilt”. Around the quilting table, students have rendered their self-portraits. Students wrote about having the courage to try new things, or life experiences they have had that demanded courage. The written squares have been woven together to make the quilt and the students framed the mural with actual fabric squares.
6th Grade
Key Word: Academic Theme: Courage
Sixth Grade chose to interpret “academic” courage by working in the Impressionist style of Claude Monet with specific reference to Monet’s “Wheatstack” series. The “Wheatstacks” were painted in different seasons to capture the changing light at various times of the year. Students have represented each academic subject with its own haystack. In essence, students have hidden facts in the haystack symbolizing the idea of students having the courage to persevere in finding knowledge when learning becomes more difficult.
7th Grade
Key Word: Social Theme: Courage
Seventh Grade students studied surrealist Rene Magritte’s, “Son of Man” to express their thoughts regarding social courage. Students borrowed from Magritte’s work and painted a group of people, dressed in identical red suits with green apples for heads. One individual from the ‘apple’ crowd has ventured out to befriend a ‘pineapple’-headed individual. The image here describes the fact that it takes courage to break away from the crowd and ignore peer pressure when reaching out to someone or something that is different and/or unknown. The ‘apple’-heads and ‘pineapple’-heads are painted in pairs of color opposites (red and green, and purple and yellow) which suggest that commonalities can be found in individuals who appear different, if students have the courage to reach out.
8th Grade
Key Word: Moral Theme: Courage
Eighth Grade students worked in the abstract and conceptual style of artist, Piet Mondrian. Later in his career, Mondrian believed that the purest form of art was made using only art elements such as color, shape and composition, rather than rendering realistic objects. The idea of balancing art elements parallels the idea of the power of “right” decision-making which is a key part of moral courage. The painting is constructed of squares and rectangles separated by black lines. With the exception of one bright, yet small orange rectangle, the rest of the painting is rendered in muted colors. At first glance, the orange section of the painting demands the attention of the viewer. In spite of the fact that it is the smallest part, visually it is the most powerful. In terms of the theme, the orange shape represents “right” decision making, while the rest of the muted areas represent wrong. The composition of the painting symbolizes the fact that having the courage to make a right decision, even a small one, is more powerful than many wrong decisions. Furthermore, there are times when a student may need to stand alone as the only individual making the right choice, just as the orange square stands alone in the painting.
