Charles Sumner Math & Science Community Acad ES

Urban Gateways

Grant Amount: 10,000

Urban Gateways will provide an in-school Mosaic Design residency at Sumner Academy. The 6th-8th grade students will receive 34 site sessions over 20 weeks. The anchoring theme, “Unity: An Arts Realization,” will be led by a professional Urban Gateways’ teaching artist. Students will receive in-depth visual art instruction in three-dimensional mosaic installation artwork. Students will be contribute to the conceptual design, selection process and creation of the mosaic. Students will communicate relevant artistic symbolism through conceptual designs, collaborative selection process and mosaic installation pieces to transform various learning spaces. The teaching artist will work in partnership with the school’s grade level teachers to develop an experiential creative learning environment.
Students will continue to investigate mathematical concepts, while expanding their skill-sets as young artists. Through the conceptual design phase, students will utilize their math skills to collaboratively sketch out and research geometric shapes and symbols that reflect images of unity and empowerment. Much time will be spent in the conceptual design phase as students learn how to translate visual images into a mosaic medium.
Using three-dimensional visual art techniques, design elements and principles, scale, concrete, color adhesives, and symbolism, students will collaborate to design and create a positive statement of unity, creating mosaic mural panels that re-define their learning space. The residency will include 102 hours of mosaic design and creation, a field trip to a cultural institution, and a culminating student exhibition to showcase their acquired visual arts skills, knowledge and artistic expression.