The Oberlin Ohio public schools faced a situation happening throughout the country. They had a school mascot that was much less than politically correct. Their sports teams were know as the Oberlin Indians. The town of Oberlin as well as the college there are known for liberal leaning politics. After much discussion, recently the mascot was renamed the Phoenix. As you know in mythology, the phoenix was credited for being able to rise from its own ashes and begin anew a cycle of growth, maturity and then a spectacular immolation, the ashes descending to the earth. Found in the ashes was a phoenix egg and the cycle began again.
The art teacher at Langston Middle School in Oberlin, Tiffany Georgiatis, ask me to work with her seventh grade students to create a tile mural celebrating their new mascot. The space, on a staircase landing was unusual, with a fan shape window in the center of the wall. I've often found that a uniquely shaped space produces a uniquely conceived project design. Halfway through the process of creating the mural with Mrs. Georgiatis' students, we received the exciting news that money was available to complete a second mural on a similar theme on the opposite wall, separated from the first by a long second floor hall. The second tile mural was designed and glazed by a fresh group of seventh grade art students from second semester. The two projects will be collectively titled "Rise Like a Phoenix" and will be unveiled at the annual Langston Middle School arts festival on Friday May 16 at 6pm.
Below is a picture of the original undecorated wall of the first mural followed by a photograph of the installation of that project.
George Woideck
View my work as an artist in the schools at tileandclayart.com
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