Piecing it Together

1
Piecing it Together

• A Cross Disciplinary
• Service Learning Project

Helen Cole Keansburg High School Art Department
2008-2009
2
Overview

• Assisted by a grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge
  Foundation, Keansburg High School students became
  mosaic artists whose skills and talents allowed
  them to contribute to their local and global
  communities.

3
Inspiration

• While visiting artist, Isaiah Zagar, and touring
  his mosaic mural sites in Philadelphia with Dodge
  Foundation Fellow artists/teachers, I realized
  that tile mosaic would be an ideal medium for my
  students.

Photos of Isaiah Zagars mosaics in Philadelphia
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Photo of Isaiah Zagars mosaics in Philadelphia
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Photo of Isaiah Zagars mosaics in Philadelphia
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Why Mosaics?
Our mosaic projects crossed many disciplines of
study.

• Art and Design
• History
• Work Place Skills
• Problem Solving
• Reading/Writing
• Mathematics
• Environmental Studies/Recycling
• Global issues/ Geography
• Marketing/
• Bookkeeping

7
Art History
Paired students researched facets of mosaics as
they relate to a specific culture, region,
artist, or time period. Students collected facts
and visuals and reported back to class via
documented slide shows.
Mosaic History Topics

• The Vatican Mosaics
• Moravian Tile works
• Talavera Tiles
• Moroccan Tiles
• Contemporary Mosaic Artists
• New York City Subway Tiles
• La Maison Picassiette

• Greek Pebble Mosaics BC
• Roman Mosaics 500 AD
• Roman Mosaics in Britain
• Islamic Tile Work
• Judaic Tile Work
• Byzantine Mosaics
• Alhambra Mosaics
• Gaudi and Parque Guell

8
Where we began

• Last school year we made mosaic murals in the
  hallway of our building. We wanted to take the
  murals out to the town.
• Our original thought was to try to find a space
  in town to make a mosaic mural. The Logistics of
  timing and getting students to the site and
  supervised were problematic.

Student Mosaics from the Halls of Keansburg High
School
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Service Learning
Keeping it Local

• Mr. George Hoff, a history teacher in our school
  and councilman for Keansburg, suggested covering
  existing large concrete street side planters with
  mosaics.
• Arrangements were made through Keansburgs
  Revitalization Committee and the planters were
  hauled to school and fork-lifted into the
  classroom.

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Service Learning
Community Planters
Students set shards of donated tiles, plates, and
discarded student ceramics onto surface of
planters.
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Service Learning

• Community Planters

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• Community Pride

The mosaic art has turned ordinary planters into
beautiful pieces of art that will be on display
for all town folks to enjoy. The students are
doing an outstanding job and should be proud of
their work. They took ownership of the planters
and will add a spice of life to the streetscape
of the Borough of Keansburg.   Councilman
George F. Hoff
Two planters near completion
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Empowering Students
Planting Some Hope

• For a global service learning project, students
  decided to make and sell mosaic flower pots and
  donate the proceeds to a humanitarian based
  non-profit group.

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Global Issues and Geography

• In their pursuit to choose a non- profit group to
  benefit from their efforts, students researched
  various aid organizations.
• As a group, they determined that they wanted to
  select a group that focused on child health and
  well being. Students elected to choose UNICEF
  after a fact finding lesson. Students reported
  to the class of their findings on natural
  disasters, conflicts of war, and social issues
  that impact the youth of our planet.

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Persuasive Advertising Design
Students used persuasive advertising as well as
emotional and visual appeal to design their
posters. They included facts from their research
in the advertising campaign posters. Students
learned about the following issues impacting the
lives of children world wide

• Child Survival
• Nutrition and Water
• AIDS/HIV
• Child Labor
• Basic Education
• Gender Inequality
• Basic Education
• Trafficking
• Children in Military Conflict
• Natural Disasters

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Business and Marketing

• Students managed inventory and bookkeeping for
  their sale.
• Students brainstormed ways to better market their
  wares within the school and community.
• All proceeds from selling flowerpots were donated
  to UNICEF.

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Career Development

• Art Studio Skills -
• Students worked with layout, color theory,
  tile glazing, tile setting and grouting to
  produce mosaic flower pots.
• Work Place Readiness Skills - Skills used in art
  careers of design, production, and advertising
  were practiced by students. Critical Thinking,
  Decision Making and Problem-Solving Skills were
  developed individually and as part of a
  cooperative group.

18
Impact of this Project

• This service learning opportunity allowed our
  school to give back to the community while
  providing both a great teaching and learning
  experience for those involved. Our students,
  through the assistance of the Geraldine R. Dodge
  Foundation, have been able to change the
  landscape of our town through the mosaic tile
  murals that they added to downtown planters.  In
  addition, our student artists, through the sale
  of their artwork, have been empowered to help
  improve the lives of children around the globe.
• 
  Thomas
  Normile
• Principal
• Keansburg High School

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Links

• The Joy of Shards
• A comprehensive website on mosaics history,
  galleries and how-tos. http//www.thejoyofshards.c
  o.uk/index.shtml
• UNICEF
• http//www.unicef.org/index.php
• Isaiah Zagar
• http//www.isaiahzagar.org/