Caden Collins ‘23 | Eshika Tangri ‘23
Students walking up the front stairwell in the Upper School may have noticed an in-progress mural on the wall leading up to the second floor. This mural, designed and created by members of EA’s Install-It Club, which is focused on implementing more art into EA’s campus, is a project for the English department. Hilary Hutchison, Upper School art teacher and faculty advisor of the Install-It Club, says, “Mrs. Barr heard about the Install-It Art Club and reached out to the lead club curators, specifically Jared Semisch ‘21, to talk about her interest in having a mural designed for the stairwell leading to the English Department. They met, and talked about creating a work that would celebrate books that are read throughout the Upper School curriculum.” Mrs. Hutchinson describes how the specific idea of the mural came to be, saying, “Students designed the work, echoing a painting by Piet Mondrain that uses a grid-work pattern with primary-colored boxes. The grid work in the mural houses boxes with author silhouettes, book covers, and spines of books.”
Hutchison is extremely proud of her students, saying, “The students have incredibly taken the lead with this. They came up with the proposal that contained a drawing, color palette, schedule for work time, and this had to be evaluated by Mr. Letts and Mrs. Barr and campus facilities. I basically have only ordered and delivered the paint! I am so impressed with this group of students. The mural is coming together beautifully. It is professional looking and tight, meaning, it has strong, clean graphics, and it is visually engaging.” Semisch, one of the leaders of the club, says, “My favorite part so far in completing the mural is the positive response we get from passing students and faculty as we paint. The goal of the mural was to bring some pop of color in the normal, boring hallways and give people something different to look at.” Additionally, Madeleine Ott ‘22 replies, “My favorite part about creating the mural is seeing all the talent and hard work of so many EA artists manifested in a single work of art that will hopefully be on EA’s walls for a very long time. I also love being able to blend the worlds of literature and artwork together, as they’re both forms of creative expression and an essential part of the culture of EA.” Josephine Buccini ‘21 says, “I love art and painting in general, so sharing it and leaving a mark on my school is really cool. It’s fun to see people’s reactions to it as it progresses.”
The members of Install-It have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into this project. As they worked on the mural, each student learned something different from the process of designing and executing the project. Semisch says, “Just starting the mural and working on it as people pass gets others to want to be involved. From the start of the project, we have gotten more and more students wanting to help out and paint book covers, so it really shows how many people want to be engaged in bettering EA’s campus.” On the other hand, Ott says, “Something I’ve learned from making the mural is just how difficult and time-consuming these ambitious, large-scale projects are. Since it will be on EA’s walls permanently, I’ve noticed that all of the artists working on it have been incredibly meticulous and detail-oriented in their work, which means it’s been taking a really long time to finish. That being said, the more time we spend on it, the better the mural will turn out and the more rewarding it will be when we finally finish it.” Buccini says, “Like any collaborative creative project, it’s a good lesson in teamwork. However, it was really interesting to develop our concept and make it cohesive.” Many faculty members were thrilled with the new addition. Christele Furey, Upper School French teacher, enthusiastically says, “I absolutely love the mural. It is creative, bright, so meaningful, and makes a powerful statement in this otherwise dull stairwell. My only wish is that we could have one on the wall leading up to the 3rd floor … hint hint ….”.
Due to the campus closure, the mural has been put on hold. That being said, taking an idea from a piece of paper to the stairwell has been a very long but rewarding experience for each member. Semisch remarks, “The mural process has been great, it is only stressful now because we don’t know when we’ll be able to finish it.” Ott states, “The process of making the mural has been so therapeutic and rewarding for me. I [loved] getting to come down to the stairwell during any free time I have during the school day and just paint. Even more than that, it’s incredible to know that I’m helping to create something that will physically be a part of EA for a long time to come, something that can bring some sort of joy to present and future members of the EA community.” Buccini says, “It’s been a lot of fun! We even met on a Saturday to get some work done without anyone walking down the stairs, and it was so enjoyable.” Despite the unfortunate situation of campus closure, Hutchinson remains optimistic. “Like everything right now, the work has stopped. When students return to school, the project will continue as planned.”