Washington Ave Elementary School Pleasantville NJ

I have the great pleasure to be working with art teacher Tara Bach and the students at Washington St Elementary on a new A.I.E. mosaic. The theme is "A Multicultural Garden". Pleasantville is just outside Atlantic City NJ. The residents hail from all over the world, particularly South America.The mural we will be creating depicts state flowers from all the countries represented in the participating students. Here are a few photos of the students working first on paper, then using broken tile that was generously donated to the school. All work is being created in the classrooms as Tara is on a cart. The mosaic will be made on 12 X 12 wedi boards for easy moving throughout the building.

                                     

Joseph Tiberino, friend and mentor.

My dear friend and mentor Joseph Tiberino passed away in March 2016. Joe and his wife Ellen, shared the love of creating art and life with all those who came in contact with them.  Joe was an inspiration to my family, and his childern remain my closest of friends. Many years ago, Joe asked me to make a funeral urn for him. He wanted his face on the outside so I cast him in plaster. What a time I had removing that cast due to all his facial hair! I created his urn and kept his cast for many years before it finally came into use. This past summer, Danny Simmons opened a new cultural art center in Philadelphia called Rush Philanthropic Arts. The first show in his new gallery was dedicated to Joe Tiberino, the "Joe Show"! Here are the casts I created for the show. Rest in Peace my friend.

Smoky Joe

Green Man Joe

Joe Van Gogh

Camdens Pride

After waiting most of the summer for cooler weather to arrive, I finally had to to finish grouting. The day was HOT but the poles got finished. This was my first experience working with the brightly colored grout. I really like the way it works on the totems. Thanks to Appel Farm for funding this project. I really enjoyed working in the garden. It is a little spot of beauty within the city of Camden.

Camdens Pride garden mosaic

I had the opportunity to work with Science teacher Ms Mazzarella at the Camden's Pride Charter School in Camden NJ.  "Mazz" and I worked with her 4th grade class to create mosaic poles that depict fuits, flowers and insects in the beautiful new garden. This was a 10 day residency through Appel Farm Music and Arts. Here is a photo of the poles which still need to be completely grouted. Just waiting for some cooler weather!

Bradley Beach Mosaic Complete!

Almost Complete

The map mural at Bradley Beach is almost complete. All that is needed is a little bit of Monmouth County and some tile around Newark. All of the students names will be placed in the "dent' at Trenton ( which is PA!) Once the gluing is complete, the mural will be grouted. Looking forward to the dedication and the students reaction to seeing the completed mural. Had a fantastic experience working with art teacher Jennifer DiZefalo and the 4th grade class.

Installation

Today I started gluing the ceramic pieces to the wall. So excited to finally start to see the mural take shape in full scale.

Creating the clay symbols

Fourth Grade students at Bradley Beach Elementary work at making the clay symbols that will be used in their mural.

Creating the Design

Students work in groups to create a design for the mural that will feature all the NJ state symbols.

Bradley Beach Elementary Mural

I am very fortunate to have another A.I.E.residency at Bradley Beach Elementary. This year, art teacher Jennifer DiZefalo and the fourth grade students are creating a mosaic with the theme of the NJ state symbols. Students worked in groups to come up with a design. The groups all had a map as part of their design, so I  created a map of the regions of NJ and inset all the symbols into the map. The space for the mural is rectangular, so I decided to show only a section of the map. This section does feature all regions of NJ, Outer Coastal Plain, Inner Coastal Plain, Piedmont and Highlands, with the exception of the top most Valley and Ridge region.This mural is a cross curricular project with fourth grade Social Studies. Jennifer wanted to create a mural that could be used as a teaching tool for the fourth grade curriculum, as well as create a lasting work of art in the school. Here is my paper mosaic "plan"