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I.S. 78 Students Come Together To Create Holiday Mural
Entitled “Let’s Celebrate Together,” the nearly 8’x3.5’ mural was fashioned in an effort to promote diversity. The mural is now on display next to the school’s basement art room and is decked with drawings of menorahs, holiday trees, Kinaras (Kwanazaa candlebras), and families gathered at dinner tables. Art teacher Corinne Liverpool helped students at the Mill Basin school on East 68th Street use their individual creativity to also draw abstract pictures of paper ornaments. In addition to festive drawings, students’ essays, which interpret the meanings of Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and Idul-Adha, a year-end Muslim observance, are part of the mural, which Liverpool said took about an hour to complete. “I wanted my students to learn how different people celebrate the holidays during this time of the year and give them a chance to creatively express what they’ve learned. It shows that what they’ve learned means something to them and they can recreate the information in an artistic fashion,” Liverpool said. Eighth grader Jacynta Fox said, “It’s about more than just the art. Ms. Liverpool gave us a history of the holidays, too, so there’s a deeper meaning to it and there’s a lot of background we needed to know before we got started.” Daniel Gershenberg, another eighth grader, said his favorite holiday is Chanukah and he enjoyed writing an essay about its significance and designing art to coincide with the holiday. “The holidays are brought to life through our art,” he said. In addition to the mural project, Liverpool has tried to enhance her art class. “The classroom was a mess before the students began,” the teacher said. “I just started working with them this year and since the class only meets on Fridays, we spent many periods decorating and making it a real art room. I will definitely have future students make different types of murals. “There’s an artist in every one of these kids – sometimes they just need a little inspiration to get them motivated. Every one of them did an incredible job,” she added.
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