Students, parents, and community members have completed a collaborative mural project at Grand View Elementary in recognition of Grand View's "
No Place for Hate" effort.
The mural spells out "L-O-V-E," with the "O" as a peace symbol, and with each of the letters filled with flowers. Each participant painted in his or her own flower within the design.
The path to creating the mural took some unexpected twists and turns, with both good surprises (donated paint!) and bad surprises (overnight graffiti!). But project leaders said that they were thrilled with the end result.
"Given the recent acts of
violence in our nation, as well as the discovery of hate speech on our
kindergarten play structure, we believe completing this mural project
will reaffirm our solidarity against injustice, remind us of our
resilience through these trying years, and re-establish our commitment
to stand up against acts of hate," wrote Grand View Principal Tara Grings in an email to parents.
Design Merged Two Students' Ideas
The Grand View Cares Committee came up with the idea for the project after conducting an art contest, said Ashley McCarthy, who co-chairs the committee along with Melissa Overholt. The winners of the art contest - including overall winner Valeria Garcia - had their art made into large posters that were displayed at the school.
However, committee members also loved two designs created by 5th grade students Jack Andrews and
Mila Skorin. The committee immediately recognized Andrews' design - the letters L-O-V-E filled with flowers - and Skorin’s design of a peace symbol with flowers - as art that would make a perfect mural.
Then it was Andrews himself who suggested that the two designs be merged with the peace symbol becoming the "O" in "Love" - and a mural project was born.
(The two original mural designs side by side)
Organizers decided to make the mural a group project, in which students and community members would each have a chance to paint their own flower.
Students were asked to bring to school a print of a photo or
drawing of the flower they wanted to paint on the wall to represent
themselves. They were asked to choose a flower they identified with,
such as the California poppy in honor of California, or a flower from another state or country
where their family is from, or just a flower they particularly liked, either in color or shape.
"What was so cool was when we talked to [Andrews] about doing the mural, I asked him if he was going to do stencils for the flowers. He said, "Anything that [the participants] paint is going to be amazing. Art is full of beautiful mistakes.' He stole my heart at that meeting. He had no ego about this at all," said McCarthy.
Project Goes Through Twists and Turns
The mural project began with painting a large wall by the cafeteria all white to serve as a backdrop. But the project immediately hit a snag when graffiti appeared on the white wall overnight. McCarthy credited Grings and the school district with working quickly to remedy the situation.
After the wall was fixed, Andrews' parents got a video
projector and went to the playground when it was dark, projected Jack’s
design onto the wall, and taped the L-O-V-E stencil out in blue tape. (Since they were working "under cover of night," said Andrews' mother Vezna Andrews, "I joked with my husband, 'Are we going to get arrested?'")
But the next day they got a different - and much better - surprise, said Vezna: "The next morning when I went to our local paint store, Catalina Paints
on Sepulveda, I almost fell over when I found out that Benjamin Moore
had donated all the paint to the school for our project and all the
colors Jack picked out were all mixed and ready to go. Thirteen gallons!" she said. "Jack’s grandma, Laura Gottwald, an interior designer in New York City,
had sent an email to her local Benjamin Moore Architectural and Design
rep about the project, who then forwarded it the Southern California
rep, Jill Dominick."
When it was time to paint, each fifth grade and fourth grade class had a time slot where students got to paint
flowers along with their teachers and staff. During recess and after school,
kids from other grades and their parents also got chances to paint a flower.
On the last Sunday
afternoon (June 12), the project was opened up to include alumni and all parents and kids
in the community.
The project was such a success, said McCarthy, that the committee is thinking about creating more space around the edges for future families to add their own flowers.
No Place for Hate Designation
Four Manhattan Beach elementary schools, Robinson, Pacific, Grand View, and Meadows,
have officially been recognized as “No Place for Hate” schools for the
2022-2023 school year. These four schools join more 1,800 schools across the
nation earning
this designation.
(Pennekamp has been busy launching a number of programs to celebrate diversity and foster a culture of care and inclusivity - including multicultural games, reflection activities, murals and more, said Pennekamp parent Diana Skaar. The school is also looking into joining No Place for Hate in the coming school year, she said.)
No Place for Hate provides schools a framework to make a commitment
to address bias and bullying over the school year through their
student-led climate improvement program.
No Place for Hate first launched in MBUSD with a pilot program at
Robinson during the 2020-2021 school year. During the current school
year, students, teachers, and administrators from each school completed a
series of school-wide initiatives designed
to build more inclusive and equitable communities. As part of their
participation schools were required to form a committee, host a
school-wide pledge signing, and hold at least three activities that
involve active learning that focus on recognizing differences
and promoting respect.
No Place for Hate aims to supplement other MBUSD programs, such as
SEL and EDSJI efforts, that are designed to create a "culture of care" on the campuses.
(All photos via Vezna Andrews)
