New and Improved Gym Wall

Much to the delight of our phys. ed. teacher, our gym wall went from being a very boring white brick wall to this colourful masterpiece! This was another project that I did with the Grade 6 students, who were very proud to be leaving their mark in their elementary school, during the 2012-13 school year.

I met with the four graduating classes in January and introduced the project to them. They had to work in groups and decide which quotes they liked from the ones presented to them. The selection of balls represented the SSIAA school tournaments that our school participates in.

The next step was to mark out and paint the 4 1/2 feet x 4 1/2 feet squares.

Once the paint was dry, the balls and quotes were then projected onto the squares. The students took turns and came in groups to paint in their designated square.

Aside from having only one hour each week when the gym was free from activities, another difficulty that I encountered was that I needed to keep the paintings covered so that they would not get damaged. This meant that I had to continue to cover all of the squares every time that I had the students paint. I also wanted to keep the paintings covered until the big reveal!

 

Once all of the paintings were complete, I put two coats of varathane on top so that they would be protected from the various balls that regularly come in contact with the walls in a gym.

Everyone was very happy with the end result! It brightened up our previously dull gym and continues to provide positive words of inspiration in another location in our school.

Gallery of Inspiration

I believe that if you want students to care about others, you need to involve them. I wanted to create a caring environment in our school that the staff and students would be a part of and see every day. I was inspired by posters with positive messages and thought the students would be too. The challenge was to implement this in an elementary school with all of the staff and every student from Kindergarten to Grade 6 involved in the process. Based on the warm reception from everyone, I succeeded by transforming inspirational messages into art and turned a very boring hallway into a beautiful gallery.

A before and after look at the wall in the main hallway of our school.



To begin the project, I met with each class and discussed what positive messages are and how they make us feel. Designs were selected that were appropriate for the younger grades, some based on the current theme that they were using or class mottos they had. Students in the older grades voted on which quote they would use and then submitted designs using the quote. Once again, the class voted, this time for which design they would paint.

The hand drawn designs were then put on acetate and projected onto the canvas on top of the base coat of paint. The details were then ready to be painted. For some of the images I used painters tape to help the students stay within the lines and to create crisp edges. Paint pens were used for details and for the messages. Every student and staff member contributed to their painting.

To create the "framed" art, I painted the sides of the canvas in gold. Next, I purchased chair rails which I primed and painted with the same gold finish as the sides of the canvas. They were then cut and attached to the front of each painting with a staple gun to create the frame.

My daughter and I spent after-school hours painting the ticket booth and gallery words. The challenge was how to disguise a recessed water fountain on this gallery wall! It seems to disappear nicely. The added touch was a Plexiglas finish to have a glass effect on the ticket booth.

Under each painting is a plaque which states which class painted it, as well as the year. I also placed two gold plaques beside the ticket booth. The first one explains the project and the second gives credit to the authors of the few famous quotes that were used.

The paintings from Kindergarten and Grade 1.

The paintings from Grades 2, 3 and 4.

The paintings from Grades 5 and 6.

Finally, the staff painting.

This project lasted the entire school year. One year later, students, staff, and visitors to our school still stop and stare, some to read the messages, others to admire their work. The students still talk about which part of the painting they contributed to and which message is their favourite.