TONYA MCKENNA TRABANT
It’s gluing and grouting season for the Antigo Legacy Mosaic Mural Project. Since last summer, Antigo Visual Arts and the Unified School District of Antigo have partnered on this project. Five permanent clay murals are nearly complete and will be located at North, West, and East Elementary, the Antigo Middle School, and the Antigo High School.
For each mural, individual tiles are laid onto the design and arranged together. Gluing happens once the design is complete and all the tiles fit. This process takes time and could be boring for some people but many elementary students have enjoyed seeing the design be built. One student at West Elementary said, “I thought this was going to be really boring but I’m having alot of fun! This is cool.”
The theme of the project is belonging. The tiles started as lumps of clay and were personalized by local students, families, and businesses over the past six months. “Each tile represents someone or something that belongs in the community,” says Olivia Lemke, AHS & East Art Teacher.
After the glue dries, grouting and polishing begin. Every tile is personally polished with a soft cloth on a single fingertip. While doing this at North Elementary, a student noted, “look at how shiny it is now!” As they polish, students are finding their own, each others’, and local business tiles.
“All of this takes lots of patience, flexibility, and persistence . . . we have and need a variety of people to assist in this community project,” says lead artist Connie Greany, “plus the weather changes things so we all need to be flexible too.”
The community mural will be revealed on Wednesday, May 24 at Antigo High School. All community members are welcome.
For pictures of the mural progress, visit the Antigo Legacy Mosaic Mural Project on Facebook. The murals are a public art community project sponsored by the Unified School District of Antigo, Connie Greany of Legacy Murals, the Wisconsin Art Board and the National Endowment of the Arts, Antigo Visual Arts, and the Antigo community.
Photo_a: Art teacher Lori Tischendorf and volunteers work with North Elementary students to polish their school mural.
Photo_b: East Elementary students lay tiles onto the design with artist Connie Greany last week.
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