The Coleman Center for the Arts (CCA) is pleased to present “Perfectly Imperfect, Love.” These collaborative murals were made by a group of 5th through 8th grade students from Livingston Jr. High School (LJHS) and North Sumter Junior High School (NSJH) who spent the semester working on conceptualizing, articulating and creating “color and language” with CCA Curator of Education, Boo Gilder.
Students spent the spring semester investigating language and visual arts by learning about and experimenting with drawing, painting, and multimedia techniques. The final goal set out at the begin of the class was to create a mural that used color and language to inspire their school and brighten their environment.
Students learned about color, color mixing, and the effects of color while painting along with music in the the style of early 20th century painter Wassily Kandinsky. They explored the role of shapes, design, and composition in modern art by creating their own works of abstract art. They studied the connection between words and images through poetry and illustration.
With the final mural in mind, students began to put these new ideas and skills to work by engaging in series of classroom conversations. To frame this discussion, students shared and discussed quotes and concepts from inspiring and prominent 20th and 21st century artists and leaders. Using this as inspiration, students then generated their own ideas, and then voted on the words of phrase that would best represent the group and have a positive effect on their school and classmates. Through this process, LJHS chose the phrase ‘Perfectly Imperfect’ while NSJH settled on the word ‘Love.’
Utilizing their critical thinking abilities, creativity, and art-making skills, the students set out to conceptualize, design, and paint a permanent mural installation. Each student shared their ideas through sketches, suggested color palettes, and class discussions. After combining and editing their ideas into a single visual concept, the students spent the remainder of the semester painting and perfecting their murals.
Each mural juxtaposes light and dark grays with bright, bold geometrical designs. In
“Perfectly Imperfect” the students incorporated a tone-on-tone graffiti-inspired section for their free style expressions. At NSJH, the mural includes a Martin Luther King, Jr. quote discussed in class: ‘Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ Both murals draw color and design inspiration from contemporary examples of murals and street art sourced from all across the globe.
Each mural will hang in the hallway of their respective schools and contribute bright colors, bold design, and a positive message to the daily lives of students, teachers, and community members.
This program was made possible by the Sumter County Board of Education, the Coleman Center for the Arts, the Alabama State Council on the Arts, and many contributions of principals, teachers, and students.