"One of the reasons I do the murals is our civilization will be remembered and judged by our art." – Artist-in-residence Julia Noyes.
On a recent Monday, Lincoln artist and art gallery owner Julia Noyes and her colleague, photographer Tom Marshall, began a four-day art project with nearly 400 students at Fort Calhoun Elementary School north of Omaha.
The cost of the double-mural project, spearheaded by Pioneers for Education (PFE), a parent group supporting the school, was split 50-50 by the Nebraska Arts Council and the PFE.
"One-half was the maximum we could receive [from the Council]," said PFE Vice President Denise Work, who applied for the grant. "In addition, PFE paid for the supplies."
In groups of approximately 24 students, classes filed into the gymnasium, surrounded by basketball hoops, an American flag and posters. Two 4- by 5-foot canvases painted bright blue by Noyes lay on two separate tables. Earlier, Noyes had outlined the pioneer, the school's mascot, on one and profiles of children's faces on the other.
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One-inch squares cut from magazines and separated by color were sprinkled near the canvases. The students took turns pasting the squares on the murals while others, sitting on the floor, cut more squares needed for the murals.
Assistant Annie Doyle, who has three of her nine grandchildren still attending Fort Calhoun Elementary, exclaimed, "This is awesome. My grandkids can tell you where they worked on last year's mural. It is a great experience (for them)."
The mural of profile faces, each one a different color, represents how unique everyone is and elicits knowing responses from the students.
"All the kids got it – they understood we are all different,†said Noyes. “They thought the blue face was awesome."
Noyes, who has a long history as an artist-in- residence, orchestrated two murals at Fort Calhoun last year, one of which was the mascot logo created using pointillism, which hangs above the stairs leading to the gymnasium where this year's murals were created.
Cognizant that she'd be working with many ability levels – preschoolers through sixth-graders – Noyes adjusted the tasks. She also suggested that students who had worked on her previous murals help others.
Emily Warfield, 9, worked on last year's pointillism painting. "There is a lot of different ways art can be displayed,†she said. “This one uses magazines (as opposed to painted dots)."
Danny Pawol, 10, repeated aloud the procedure Noyes communicated to the students: "Glue spot on the canvas, pick up a square and press it down on all corners."
Noyes invited the students to problem-solve: "What needs to be done?" "Where do you think it needs to be filled in?" "Where do you think this needs color?" "They know," she said.
"We want color showing through between the squares. Why do we want a little blue showing through?" Noyes asked the youngsters. "Does it make the [colored] squares pop?" "It should be nice and neat in a row. Sometimes you have to cut your paper to make it fit."
The thing about art, Noyes said, is "Anybody can do it. You don't have to be a world-class athlete, a fashion model or a Nobel Peace scientist to participate in this. Art is one class where everybody can succeed. There is no right or wrong."
Noyes, who has worked on more than 65 school murals, many times with Noyes' gallery artist Kevin Baker, said that the students are reaping the satisfaction of creating permanent art for their school.
"This is a project that the kids have pride in,†she said. “It builds pride. They work together as a team. All their names are on the back of the canvases."
Asked what she liked about participating, sixth-grader Kaylee Taylor summed up her thoughts: "It is fun, and you know you are making it for the school."
Work pointed out another aspect of the project that was fun for the students: "They like making something big like that. The size alone is something they don't get to do in their classrooms," she said.
Principal Drew Wagner said he popped in and out of the gym several times to observe the students and their progress.
"There is a special place in my my heart for art," he said, noting he majored in art his first two years at Wayne State College. "We don't have an art program. We are trying to supplement and expose kids to what art is all about and the various forms (art takes)."
Although Wagner has not identified a final wall, or walls, for the canvases, he set them up in the hallway off the gym entrance, along with a camera, to showcase the murals for parent-teacher conferences and garner reactions from both students and parents.