In May, all 250 children of Dunbar School (k-5) in Sonoma County worked together in creating the DISCOVERY MURAL. It explores the water cycle from a small stream into a pond to the river and out to the wide oceans with all the special habitats and creatures along the way. Stretching 30 feet from the library door to the edge of the computer lab, the mural evokes California's golden landscape, rich with birds, turtles, fishes, skunks, racoons, insects, whales, sea life and much, much more.
Class by class, the children came in small groups to work with Artists Janet Self and Beth Bierman. Over a 5 day period, each group had specific jobs like leafing out trees and making a flock of birds, creating rocks and sand along the stream edges for salmon to spawn, or stocking the pond with fishes, tadpoles, ducklings, heron and turtles...Plants ants, insects, snails and snakes growing along the edges, shorebirds, and sea life swimming in the ocean with ship building and adventures sailing...layer upon layer of detail evolved each habitat and developed the overall story of the entire scene.
Art making while talking science and considering the lives of creatures all along the way that depend on the water cycle. This is the 2nd mural of a 3 year project. Last year, we explored scale and perspective, growing from tiny people to giant flowers, inspired by Georgia O'Keefe. We can't wait to stretch out to the stars and beyond... This project is supported by the Sonoma Plein Air Foundation http://www.sonomapleinair.com/
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