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P.S. Arts Tamie's ceramic tiles

Over the summer, while students were busy spending time out in the sun, vacationing, and enjoying their time away from school, P.S. ARTS Teaching Artist Tamie Smith was still at work envisioning and constructing a way to show off the ceramic tiles that students created in our Inclusive Arts program at Grand View Blvd. Elementary School.

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With the help of a few volunteers, Tamie was able to mount the tile mural for everyone at Grand View Boulevard Elementary to view, appreciate, and interact with! She strategically placed the tiles low on the wall so that students, even those in wheelchairs, will be able to feel the various textures and patterns used in each of the tiles.

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The tiles were based on the P.S. ARTS’ 2014-2015 theme, “Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers,” as well as the work of Oki Sato who produced the Chocolatexture collection, a collection of rich designs and textures modeled out of chocolate. Each of the 9 squares in the collection represents a Japanese onomatopoeic word that describes texture.

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When designing the tiles students explored the textures of found objects in nature such as pinecones, rocks, and tree bark before learning and incorporating new terms into their art vocabulary such as fractals, spiral, meander, explosion, packing, and branching. Upper grade students incorporated math concepts into their work such as the Fibonacci Sequence, a series of numbers in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers.

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In its finished form, the mural is an artfully composed mix of color and texture that shows off each student’s individuality, artistic vision, and talent. Many of the children in this specialized program need as many ways to interact with the world as possible, and this tactile mural provides a hands-on opportunity for them to engage in art and expression. In light of the merger between the Grand View campus and the adjacent McBride Special Education Center (now Grand View West), this mural also represents a “bridge” between students, promoting inclusivity and creativity.

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We would like to extend a special thanks to all of the students in out Inclusive Arts programs who participated in creating each of the impressive tile pieces included in the mural, our partners in inclusive arts education, LAUSD and The Tommy Hilfiger Corporate Foundation, and Tamie Smith for helping to make it all happen!

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