Mural Design and Collaborative Art-making

Karli Wood, Rockwern Academy

Karli Wood and Laura Baum needed a mural for The Shuk Lounge at Rockwern Academy in Cincinnati. The lounge is a meeting place that parents and staff often use and it was recently renovated with the school’s branding & colors. Throughout the school there is lovely original art that celebrates learning and community. The approach to the project was to incorporate parents and staff as collaborators so when they used the lounge they would have a feeling of accomplishment and connection. The collaboration happened at Rockwern’s biggest fundraiser. Because the fundraiser was off-site (at the American Sign Museum) the mural needed to be on wooden panels that could be moved and worked on at the event and later installed at the school.

This project had two main phases that I approached as an illustrator and social practice artist:

1. Mural design.

This process included studying existing murals at the school and using imagery of Jewish traditions and also creating new icons representing students, teachers, and learning. The client reacted positively to tessalating shapes I used on a project in my portfolio. This repeating hexagonal pattern served to hold the various icons together while having an orderly and beautiful composition. I incorporated colors from the branding guidelines.

2. Collaborative Mural Painting

We finalized the 4-panel design before the event. For ease of execution, I pre-drew the panels and coded them like paint by numbers. The 3’ x 3’ panels were placed at 4 tables and each had paint containers, brushes, gloves and aprons. Participants around the table painted while I demonstrated and guided. It was a great night and I was thrilled by the level of engagement by the participants, the number involved and what we accomplished. After the event, I brought the panels back to my studio and completed the mural.

Project requirements: