San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
STUDENTS CREATE MOSAIC MAGIC
Art program guides students at Normal Heights Elementary, other schools to make permanent installations
Rather than teach kids how to create art projects that will be hung on their fridges for a bit before being filed away or discarded, community organizations are partnering with San Diego schools to give students the opportunity to create permanent installations.
Each work of art — made possible by a partnership between individual schools and Rainforest Art Project, a hands-on, educational art program — is made by students, from concept to completion. The effort is funded by the VAPA Foundation, a nonprofit working to give students in the San Diego Unified School District access to art.
At Normal Heights Elementary School, those student art projects can be seen all over their campus in the form of long-lasting mosaics. Similar projects are also under way at several other schools in the district, including Perkins, Franklin and Joyner elementary schools.
Regardless of age or art experience, Rainforest helps all of the students design the piece, teaches them the artistry behind mosaics and then helps them put it into practice, said Normal Heights school counselor Florence Alabanza-de la Cruz.
She recalls the school’s first partnership with the program in 2016, when the school lacked signage at its entrance and had an “angry-looking hawk” as its mascot. Rainforest helped change that.
Now, visitors are greeted by a mosaic medallion featuring the school’s name and a more friendly mascot that was created entirely by fourth- and fifth-graders.
Fast forward, even more mosaic hawks can now be spotted flying around the campus. A set of wings
at the front of the school allows students and the community to take hawk-like photos. Hawks also adorn the second-story classrooms. And mosaic benches — complete with a hawk sculpture — sit under shady trees in the school’s reading nook.
“The students are so proud of the work that they did and the story behind it,” Alabanza-de la Cruz said. “The great part is they’re leaving something at Normal Heights that they contributed, that’s everlasting and that can be shared with the community.”
And students are still at it. In Normal Heights’ “mosaic lab” classroom, about a dozen third-, fourth- and fifth-graders are in an afterschool program that’s working on the school’s sixth art installation: a sign to mark the entrance of the library.
As the program has progressed through the years, students have gotten more hands-on with the projects, now learning how to score and cut each tile themselves, then grind them into the perfect shape to fit and glue them into place on the mural with the help of professional mosaic artists.
“My favorite part is cutting it,” said third-grader Eliana Trinidad, who said it wasn’t hard to learn.
Fourth-grader Valentin Camargo agreed, as he carefully sliced the tile and used pliers to break off the excess before heading to the grinder to smooth it out.
Not only does lead mosaic artist Vanessa Machin say she gets to do what she loves, but she also gets to empower kids to be creative.
“Whether they excel at art or just want an outlet to express themselves, I think working with your hands really reinforces the idea that you have power and are capable,” Machin said.
Maria Titova, Rainforest’s executive director, says the program’s goal is to not only inspire students but also teachers by equipping them with in-class curriculum packets, complete with all the supplies needed to complete an art project and video instructions.
Normal Heights fifthgrader Arely Gil Deniz has been working on Rainforest’s art projects for three years now. And each year, she says her artwork has become more intricate.
Her most recent creation — also her favorite — combined methods she’d learned over the years to create a watercolor hand tracing filled in with numerous doodles and hidden gems, she said.
“I hid my name in and little cats,” Arely added. “I took a little bit from a book, then added more stuff and I just kept going with it.”
Titova says these simple projects allow Rainforest to create a continuous culture of art and creativity that affects even students who say they “aren’t artists.”
“They suddenly understand that they are capable of producing something that is appreciated by others as well,” she added.