1. Ceramic Murals:
Building
Community
A High School Ceramics
Curriculum
Created by:
Connie Lavelle
Brandy Noody

2. Where we began?
 Our continued research into The Dinner Party
and Feminist Pedagogy shaped how we
designed curriculum for our ceramics course.
 We based our teaching on the Big Idea of
power/equality within a community while
building basic ceramic skills.

3. Research

5. Proposals For Design
 Students decided to combining all their ideas: the oak
tree (mighty oak) as the center, hands as leaves,
mirror pieces to reflect back and to create a night sky,
and a puzzle piece border (kind of like the tree roots
going up the sides to connect with the leaves-
regeneration)

6. Site Approval
 After the final design was agreed upon, we
created a scale drawing, 4’x8’.

7. Construction Begins

8. We used
many
texture
tools
including
real tree
bark

9. Hand Legacy
 Metaphor as Meaning
in Your Hand for the
Mural.

10. Do We Need
More Tiles?
 Yes we do!

11. Glazing and Firing

12. Cutting Tiles and Mirror
 Students broke
the colored tiles
into pieces and
sorted them in
boxes by color.

15. Arranging
the
Composition
 The students
arranged and
rearranged their
handprint tiles, many
times, until they felt
the composition was
just right.

16.  We set up the components
of the mural on the plywood
board.
 We used ceramic tile
adhesive with trowels and
demonstrated how to
properly attach the tiles.

17. Mosaic
 Making sure everything is
level and evenly spaced.

18. Picking
and
Cleaning

19. Grouting
 We used powdered grout
 Continuously wipe and spray
the grout to prevent cracking

20. Stained with
Acrylic
 We decided to work with
three colors of grout: blue
in the sky, brown for the
tree trunk and green near
the leaves.

21.  Some students helped to push
in the grout, others cleaned,
and some scrapped dry grout
out of the textured tiles.
 It took us a few days to fully
grout the mural and clean it
properly.

22. Installation

23. Finishing
 After the mural was attached
to the wall, we immediately got
to work hiding the screws.

24.  We put up signs, asking
students not to touch the
mural, while it was drying.
 encouraged students and staff
to record their thoughts of the
mural.

25. Our Legacy
 Approaching the mural
in this way empowered
our students. They
took pride in knowing
that we trusted them
enough to place this
monumental task in
their hands.

26. Supplies
 4’x8’ plywood
 Concrete anchors
 Low fire clay
 Velvet under glaze
 Clear glaze
 Sanded grout
 Ceramic tile adhesive
 Acrylic paint
 Trowels
 Sponges/rags
 Palette knives
 Spray bottles/ vinegar water
 Bailey tile cutters
 Bailey slab rollers
Texture tools
Old mirror
Safety glasses
Wall trim/ stain
Masks
Tile nippers
Commercial tiles
Dinner Party curriculum

27. From There to Here

28. Making Recycled Sketchbooks

29. Marbling the Covers

30. Using Sketchbooks in the DIA

31. Ceramic Murals in the DIA

32. Warhol Visits Lessenger

33. 3rd Grade Clay Monarch Tiles

34. Be Gentle

35. 3rd Grade using Tux Paint
Program

36. Ceramic Decals from Computer
Drawings

37. Brainstorming Families

38. 4th Grade Silhouettes

39. 4th Grade Mural

40. Be Gentle

41. 2015 Artist Residency

42. 430 Nature Tiles based on the
Content Standards

43. 3rd grade Bird Tile, 2nd grade
Weather Tile

44. The Reading Tree

45. Self-Portrait Mural

46. Sharing Our Worlds

47. You Are Here, Backsplashes

48. Nature Center & Peace Pole

49. Fish Philosophy

50. Michigan Maps

51. Katrina Mural

52. Thank You
craighinshaw@hotmail.com
clavelle@fcsd.wnyric.org
bmnoody@fcsd.wnyric.or
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Fredonia High School
425 East Main Street
Fredonia, NY 14063