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"Visions of Peace"
The Door County Advocate - Sturgeon Bay, WI, May 20, 1997
A clay tile mural, measuring 7 feet by 16 feet, will be unveiled this week at Gibraltar School.
The mural, titled, "Visions of Peace," was designed and created by Gibraltar students in preschool through fifth grades during an artist-in-education residency with Ellison Bay artists Jeanne and David Aurelius.
The Aureliuses began meeting with students last fall to introduce the process in creating the mural containing 448 6-inch-square clay tiles.
The artists encouraged students to think visually about the topic of peace. In answer to the question, "When you hear the word peace, what do you see in your mind's eye?" students created collages and drew pictures in art teacher Betty Blahnik's classes. The many images were refined into one cohesive mural design by fifth grade art classes meeting with the Aureliuses.
This January, the artists worked with students for two weeks to create designs on the tiles. Using a full-size depiction of the mural, the Aureliuses had each student trace, sculpt, and paint a portion of the mural onto individual tiles.
Community members and parents worked with students. Younger children, Gibraltar staff members and others from the community learned how to work with the clay to create relief and add elements of design.
The artists' residency was supported in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin. George Tzougros, executive director of the Wisconsin Arts Board, plans to attend the May 21 ceremony.
After a program in the Door Community Auditorium, the fifth grade class will lead a procession down a "peace path" filled with helium-filled balloons to the mural for the unveiling. A meet-the-artists reception, open to the public is planned for the afternoon.
