From Andrea Sauer:
I’m giving you the link to a great article Matt Button created (wrote and photographed) on the mosaic residency we are currently working on here at Fallston High.
Thank you MSAC, Sue Stockman, and all others that have been a part to making this happen! It is always the highlight of the year! And a special shout out to First Lady, Mrs. Hogan who pushed for full arts funding this year. Thank you for recognizing the power of what this funding provides.
The students and I are as always enjoying this tremendously and not only learning how art, science, and math skills are all utilized in a project of this scope but how collaboration skills are paramount and even rewarding. The beauty of this project is watching the students engaging in great conversations about the healing power of the arts.
—Andrea Sauer
FRONT PAGE TODAY!!! MSAC FUNDED RESIDENCY
Fallston High students create another wall mosaic, one piece at a time
by Matt Button
A group of Fallston High School students stood around a large table staring at hundreds of pieces of colorful broken glass, small pieces of tile and other materials Wednesday morning in art teacher Andrea Sauer’s classroom.
The students are creating a large mosaic art piece, which they have been working on since last month.
A grant through the Maryland State Arts Council helped fund half of the project, with in-school and community fundraising fulfilling the other portion, according to Sauer.
Stockman is a mosaic muralist, who has helped Sauer and students create two other mosaic pieces over the past few years. Those pieces hang in the school’s cafeteria and just outside the main office.
This year’s theme of attending to the body, mind and soul was developed after much discussion among students, Sauer said.
“We had a lot of discussion about the project, we talked a lot in terms of how in school we tend to focus on the neck up, that we are concentrating so much on the academics,” Sauer explained, as she looked over the artwork in process around the room. “It’s about in this day and age, when we are bombarded by social media, advertising and all these different aspects, to be mindful of who we are as people and that a lot of our wisdom and knowledge comes from within.”
As Sauer talked, the next group of students begin to flow in and gather around the table.
“Don’t be afraid to be a bit of a critic, stand back and think for a minute, pause before you glue pieces down,” Stockman advised them.
“We spent a long time on the design and concept and now we really want to focus on execution,” the artist continued, as the new group scattered around the room to begin working. “This piece will be hanging in your hallway for like decades to come and we want to make sure that we are using the best skills to put it together.”
The students worked together, with some gathering more materials while others placed pieces and glued them down.
Senior Sabrina Parker said she is happy to be involved in the project.
“It’s a project of us growing as a person from our experiences and our challenges,” she said. “I’m going through a lot in my life and this really calms me down; art is like a coping skill for me.”
Fellow senior Michele Crapanzano, who plans to study art in college, said she is really excited to be working on the project, too, because it brings the whole class together.
“Kids that you would never expect that you would be friends with maybe, you just bond over simple things like cutting glass and creating a beautiful piece of artwork,” she said.
When completed, the 60-foot long mosaic mural will be installed along the wall just outside Sauer’s art room on the second floor of the school. A public unveiling is planned for 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 18, according to Sauer.