Corona Arts & Sciences Academy: Celebrate

During a visual arts class about the history of graffiti in New York, eighth grade students at Corona Arts and Sciences Academy researched how to create a school mural and found Thrive Collective. Their initiative resulted in the school inviting us to collaborate for a project based learning experience for students to design and produce their first campus mural.

The students chose to celebrate culture through heroes and the arts. The central figure is Gabriela Mistral, the Latin American poet for whom the school’s campus was named. Other elements celebrating the borough include the word, “Queens,” and the Queensboro Bridge, while the globe and birds represents students immigrating from diverse countries in pursuit of freedom. The Papel Picado stencils highlight core values: “Respect, Perseverance, and Leadership.”

Teachers encouraged students to take full advantage of this learning opportunity. They laid out the grid, helped transfer the design, and practiced using stencils before painting the majority of the mural itself. At the ribbon cutting, teachers Ms. Herman, Mr. Zabicki, and Mr. Estevez, together with Principal Hert and Jeremy, emphasized the importance of the student work. They left a permanent mark on the school, and saw the project completed from start to finish, including production of the ribbon cutting celebration.