Spring Break 2016
If you haven’t been to Heritage Elementary School in the last few years, you’re really missing something. The school began a physical transformation when principal Dr. Georgina Nelson took the reins. So far, she has hired Newquii Studios to paint three murals – in the front office, main stairway, and side stairway. But the buck doesn’t stop there.
Last year, the hallways and cafeteria got a much-needed paint upgrade. The main foyer/garden area was livened up by volunteer teachers and parents. And teachers began plans for a bathroom transformation project. When the teachers spoke up to ask if classrooms would get new paint, Dr. Nelson issued a challenge. Since money is always tight in public schools, she offered to buy paint for any teacher who would put in the labor to paint their own room.
In the hopes that others would follow suit, I (Heritage art teacher and Newquii Studios owner) got busy.
Before: Jail Cell Beige
I believe that this was the original paint that was put on the walls when the school was built, in 1999. Neutral. No emotion. Made it difficult for my students and myself to focus or be inspired. No matter how much artwork I hung on the walls, it just never felt like an art room. This is what all of the classrooms at Heritage look like. Does it feel like an elementary school?
After: The Color Wheel
The color wheel is one of the most important tools that artists use to aid in the decision-making process. So, when I began plans for painting my art classroom, I naturally looked here first. What would be the perfect color or group of colors? An art classroom should be an exciting and invigorating place where kids enjoy learning and creating, so warm colors are a must. However, it should also be calm enough that the kids aren’t bouncing off the walls, so there need to be cool colors balancing the warm. How should the art room feel? Passionate, cheerful, warm, safe, calm, and magical, all at the same time. What better way to achieve this than to use ALL the colors? In my humble opinion, the photos speak for themselves.
