Bethany Middle School Students Create a Wall of Expressions with Jamie Hulley Grant

When Amity Middle School Bethany eighth graders walk out of school for the last time later this month, a piece of some of them will stay behind for many years to come.

Students in Sara Frank's art elective classes started with a block of plain white clay to create a mural that hangs near the art classroom. The students, according to Frank, rolled the clay, created the designs, cut them out, then painted and fired them before they were hung on the wall.

The year-long project resulted in an expression of the students' individuality and uniqueness.

Some examples of tiles include reading, singing, playing guitar, baking, dancing, and playing sports. Some figures are ‘stepping outside the box,’ and one is an astronaut flying in space.

According to Frank, "One student said her dream was to ‘paint the sky’ and she created her figure holding a paintbrush with swirls of paint in the night sky."  

Students learned about the artist Keith Haring, and modeled their work in his style of bold lines, vivid colors and active figures in motion. Haring was known for his subway drawings, murals, and strong messages of life, love and unity.

The project was made possible by a grant from the Jamie Hulley Arts Fund for the Arts, a non-profit organization that young artists--especially local young artists--who share Jamie's creative passion and her love of taking artistic risks. Jamie was 21 when she died of lymphoma almost 9 years ago and her family started the foundation in her memory. She went to Race Brook School and Amity Middle School in Orange.

" I would like to thank Judy Primavera for her encouragement and support throughout this project," Frank says. "I walk down the hallway to my room and seeing this wall of color just makes me smile. I’m so proud of my students!"