Renee wonders about the final installation

The school district has informed us that the panels can only be a maximum of 2x5 ft if they are to be anchored to the step area we want. They figure we can fit three in the space. Renee is unsure if that is enough space.

Renee Wrote
Hi Jan,

When I come in to the school for our glazing session I'd like to set up a meeting with Mrs. Burley and Mr. Wilson to discuss the actual panels as I'm happy to comply with what the maintenance personnel recommend, but all of the tiles may not fit! It's much easier to figure out a plan when we're standing in front of the actual site, and the measurements you gave me don't seem to match the measurements I took while at the school. It's really important to me that you get what you want, so I would like to be as clear as possible about the panel construction before they get assembled....because once those tiles are stuck, they're stuck!

Let me know if we can set up a lunchtime meeting while I'm there during the week of the 18th.

Thanks!

Renee

www.craftyvictoria.com

I measured the smaller side panel areas and between the three larger panels we have to figure out if two smaller side panels will fit the 328 round tiles the students made. It will depend on calculating the final size of the finished tiles, which we will see when she comes on the 18th. But fear not, there are many places in the school that we can display the tiles.

Correspondence

From: Renee Sala

When I come in to the school for our glazing session I'd like to set up a meeting with Mrs. Burley and Mr. Wilson to discuss the actual panels as I'm happy to comply with what the maintenance personnel recommend, but all of the tiles may not fit! It's much easier to figure out a plan when we're standing in front of the actual site, and the measurements you gave me don't seem to match the measurements I took while at the school. It's really important to me that you get what you want, so I would like to be as clear as possible about the panel construction before they get assembled....because once those tiles are stuck, they're stuck!

Let me know if we can set up a lunchtime meeting while I'm there during the week of the 18th.

Thanks!

Renee

The Actual Work Begins

Renee came and worked in the school with the students from each grade making the clay tiles. It was an amazingly creative week and the children's art tiles are fantastic. The tiles are now going to dry for a few weeks before we glaze them.

The Price Drops.

Hi there Doug and Lori,

I've decided to lower the additional charge for the construction of the mural to an easy $1/student which will cover the materials for the project. I'd like to include my time for making the panels as part of the service I provide to your school with a project like this. I apologize if this change will cause any extra work communicating with the PAC, but I'm sure a decrease in cost will be welcome.

I'm looking forward to getting started at the end of the month, and would love to know about any themes you have decided upon so I can adjust my lesson plans accordingly.

Have a great weekend!

Renee

Where to put the mural?

After walking around the school, inside and out, we thought that installing the mural as part of the entrance to the school, would be a wonderful welcome to our students, parents and visitors.

Circles vs Squares

Renee advises us that when you are working with a range of children, in our case from kindergarten to grade 5, it is hard to get a consistent tile size. As she has worked with other school on clay murals she has found that if the tiles are round instead of square it is not as important to have a consist size to make it all fit together. So round we go.

We get an e-mail from Renee

Hi Doug and Lori,

I'm emailing with some details for you regarding the cost of the construction of the panels for our upcoming tile mosaic, as well as to check in on the other details we discussed.

The cost of constructing the panels and assembling the mosaic comes to $1.25/student for time and materials. The panel's dimensions and location of placement will not affect this cost, and they will be complete and ready to be hung by maintenance when I bring them in at the end of the project. I normally invoice the school a week before the workshops begin in order to get it through the system by the time the project is finished.

We're scheduled for doing our Creative Clay session from March 29th-April 1st, and our Glazing Session from April 18th-21st. I'll need to have a schedule that includes the start/end times of each session, teachers names, grade levels, and class sizes so I can prepare accordingly. ... I need room with 5 tables is all I'll need for my workshops, along with access to water. I come prepared with everything else I need to ensure a positive and fun clay experience. I'd love to know about any themes you're thinking about doing with the kids so I can begin to prepare my lessons accordingly.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

We think About the Fence Art Project

So how did we come up with the idea of fence art from a reading, writing project. We were trying to figure out how to share the wonder and beauty of our students writing with the community. As well, I remember at the time we were also trying to figure out how to slow the traffic speeding along Burnside road. So we hatched the idea of taking the visuals and ideas from our literacy project and putting them out into the community as art. It seemed like a great way to honour the children's work and use their ideas and art to beautify our school and our community and achieve a practical end. The concept was that when people saw the children's art along the fence they would be reminded of our students, who play in and around the fence, and slow down. We approached Starbucks, one of our community sponsors, who was funding our literacy project and they loved the idea.

So now all we have to do is figure out how to take an art project and turn it into a literacy project.

We think about our painted Mural project.

The mural, which brightens our lower hallway, came from the theme "Friends and Helpers. " The mural originated as a school wide writing project which so impressed us we turned it into an art project. The students stories and poems about friendship were used as the inspiration to create illustrations. The children's illustrations and poetry were combined into a large mural which was painted by students and teachers from grade 3 and up.

We think about our friends

We think about the wonderful people and resources that we have in our community. Our thoughts go immediately to Butch Dick and Ted Harrison. Both have been in the school, both are master artists, both are master teachers, both have a great love of sharing their skills, stories and have the gift of touching the hearts with children and both live in Victoria. (Ted Harrison was my art teacher in Whitehorse where I grew up and is also a friend.)

Lori and I realize that their art is so unique and striking, Butch with his coast Salish designs and Ted with his bright simple images, that to use either as a model for our children would not achieve the independent look and feel of children's art that this project needs. So back to the drawing board.

We get a telephone call

Renee an artist from www.craftyvictoria.com. has called the school about doing a clay workshop for our students and teachers.

Mrs. Burley, the principal, calls me into the office to see what I think and to discuss how an arts based lesson could fit into our school timetable, goals and vision. We have had visiting artists and writers in the school before and Lori and I think it would be a great idea to call Renee in for a visit to discuss her ideas with our needs and vision.

Lori and I have a quick meeting with Renee, where we discuss the idea of a workshop for all children in the school. Rene presents the idea for the creation of a clay mural. Renee gives us an approximate price per student plus materials. Lori and I think this project could supplement and advance the painted mural and the fence art projects that we have already created in the school. We agree, in principle, to begin this journey and to work with Rene to create some form of clay mural project with Details and Ideas to be worked out later on after we have discussed the idea with the staff.