PS 18K: Be a Star

This twelve-week program included 121 students from five classes, who helped develop the mural concepts and designs and painted as well. Students ranged from 1st to 5th grade. The themes include: kindness, saving the planet, peace and different cultures at PS18. Students painted on poly tab, and artists installed the mural afterwards in a stairwell from the first floor to the fourth floor.

For the first floor stairwell, the central phrase is, “La tierra es amor,” by a fifth grade student. The design includes a heart with the word “Love” in the center and other motifs that the students drew, such as a meadow, buildings, bicycles and the sun with sunglasses. The second floor focuses on another 5th grade student’s phrase, “Embrace all cultures,” and includes monarch butterflies symbolizing immigration, people holding hands drawn by a first grader’s, birds drawn by a second grader, and the declaration: “PS18 <3 diversity.”

A fourth grade student chose the focus for the third floor stairwell: “Make the world a better place.” Other students drew a city, clouds, flowers and trees for the background. Finally, Harmoni from fifth grade selected chose the phrase “Be a Star”  to summarize the entire project. The background invokes a starry night sky. Other design elements include a peace symbol and olive branches, along with the phrase, “Peace is what we need,” by Luca from second grade.