Claxton Elementary School

3rd Floor Mural: Starting in 2011, Asheville mural artist, Ian Wilkinson, began restoring our murals, which were originally painted in the late 80s. The paint and walls were chipping and we wanted an opportunity for students to be a part of the process. Since this mural is located on the 3rd floor, we felt that it should reflect a space that empowers students to be the leaders they are for our school. Through a TAPAS grant, Ian worked collaboratively with 5th graders that year to select historical figures that represent our diverse American history. Students were also charged with using character traits to create their own artistic panels. In small groups, students decided how to artistically represent words like 'courage', 'leader', and 'loyality' and those panels were installed as part of the mural.

Funding source: ACS Foundation TAPPAS

2nd Floor Mural: In 2014, through the support of the NC Arts Council, Claxton was able to secure funding to restore the 2nd floor mural and continue to work with Ian. Our 2nd and 3rd graders each had an opportunity to talk about mural work, our local community as part of the global community, and decide how to send their messages of peace and community. Each student was able to paint directly onto the wall and write a message onto a hand cutout, which was later stitched together to make a tree. This mural also features a love of reading outside of the media center doors.

Funding source: North Carolina Arts Council

1st Floor Mural: In the Spring of 2022, through the support of school and PTO funds, we were able to finish the final rotunda mural and allow for our kindergarten and 1st grade students to be involved. The school staff shared ideas, which included centering our observation bee hive, but also honoring a bit of the original mural, which featured Asheville landmarks such as the Grove Park Inn. Each student created pollinators on pieces of mural paper to add to the final mural as well as directly paint onto the wall. Students were able to watch this process unfold from Spring 2022 until the final product was completed in September 2022. A special thank you to Go Local Asheville and our Claxton PTO for funding this amazing art opportunity to finalize our mural beautification project!

Funding source: Claxton Elementary, Go Local Asheville and Claxton PTO

Media Center Mural: As part of our school's Family Voices night, in 2014, our media center wanted to create space for our students of color. This project allowed students that attended Family Voices night to represent themselves with creative self-portraits. Students worked with artist, Ginger Hubiner, to create their portraits through collage, which were later stitched together to create the colorful panel that is currently in our media center. The student work was completed both at Claxton and in a community center over a few sessions.

Funding source: ACS Foundation TAPPAS