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"The Star Wall"
The Permanent Outdoor Installation:
Grades 4-6, Cycle 2 The artist reviewed processes of research, materials and site with the project team and then students were introduced to the idea of scale when they calculated the dimensions of the wall and created their own maquette. This proportioned model was then displayed in the school for comments.
 "While working on the maquette, the students started discussing their individual ideas about what the stars would mean. They came up with ideas of themselves as star students, stars in the local community/ the local sky....parts of a bigger picture...of the solar system....of an infinite natural world. The piece took on the notion of the 'Grand Universe of Nature'” cjf
In the artist's personal studio, two community members helped cut and coat the actual stars, which were then finished and prepared for mounting by the project team during lunch and after school sessions.
"When the Cycle 2 students came together in the project studio to collaborate on the various projects there was always much discussion about how these new works of art might be 'read' (understood) by both the students and the wider community that used the school facilities. It became apparent to the students that each viewer would have their own interpretation, and that by actually producing the art work themselves, their personal interests and understandings would evolve." cjf
A team of volunteer parents and some students assembled over a number of days to mount the stars and hundreds of coloured ceramic tiles to the entrance wall...an activity that the rest of the school body could observe at the end of the day when they boarded the school buses.
"Thank you for finally doing something with the front of the school." Kelly S., grade 4 "Everytime I see it, I feel a sense of delight - that this project has now defined even more what a school means, it's purpose - for the kids. I speak not only as a Wakefielder, but as an educator." Marilee Rhody, Head Teacher, Poltimore School
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