Inspired artistics decorate the school via Install-It

Abby Whitman

Episcopal Academy’s Install-It club, a group of hard-working students dedicated to changing EA through artistic installations around campus, is starting yet another project: A Modern Language Mural. 

The Install-It Club is painting on the wall of the stairwell that leads up to the Modern Language department, between the second and third floors of the building.. The mural will feature cultural, historical, and linguistic aspects of French, Spanish, and Mandarin and the countries in which these languages are spoken.  Inspired by the murals outside the English and History offices, this work of art will hope to accurately capture EA’s appreciation for these languages, countries, and teachers that contribute their knowledge on these subjects to the school.

3-D design teacher Hilary Hutchinson, the faculty advisor for Install-it, explains the motivation behind creating the mural: “ after the mural went up for the English Department, the Modern Language department expressed sincere interest in having something created for the stairwell leading up to the third floor where their classrooms are located.” 

This request started the creation of the mural, which was first designed on pieces of paper. Tatum Schmedlen ’25, a member of Instill-It, recounts, “We collected symbols/significant people from the three foreign language departments (and from the internet) and put them into three panels. We made a lot of little sketches, but finalized them into one collective unit.” 

The teachers involved with the modern language department at EA expressed what they believed to be incredibly important aspects of the culture tied to the languages they teach, and from there, three designs, one for each language, were drawn up on pieces of paper. Schmedlen is excited to see her sketches come to life in Install-It’s artistic installations, stating, “it is very rewarding to see the smaller sketch effectively produced in a larger format.”

Hutchinson specifically enjoys the students’ efforts to organize their installation. Hutchinson says, “What I love about this project, and the English Department mural, is that these are student-driven projects. The meetings with the language teachers, the sketches, final design, paint selections, and the approval meeting with Mr. Letts and Señora Bilbao, have been organized and coordinated by the students involved with Install-It. I picked up the paint!” 

Commenting on the rewarding aspects of Install-It’s new project, Schmedlen expresses, “Along with that I enjoyed pulling together the ideas we were given by the language departments into one coherent sketch. Assembling all of these parts into a whole probably required the most time (so far), but it was the most challenging and fun part that I worked on.” 

Overall, the mural is well regarded by both students and teachers, evident in the in-awe and marveled comments both parties give when passing through the stairwell. The students rarely go a day working on it without a compliment or two from passersby. EA student artists continue to work tirelessly each day on this mural, with the dream and goal of adding a little more color and a little more inspiration to our school halls.