Art is a great way to find common ground and learn from each other. In April, Lower School students teamed up with students from Anna Julia Cooper School to design two murals with help from Richmond artist Hamilton Glass. 

Guided by Lower School Art Teacher Meg Foster, StC fifth graders worked with AJC students to design and create individual panels, which were then combined into colorful murals for the two schools. This morning, Glass unveiled the completed work in the Lower School auditorium, while students at AJC showed their mural for the first time and broadcast the event via Zoom.

The artistic themes that the students focused on included community, integrity, and education, and students quickly discovered that they had much in common. “In my 25-plus years in teaching, I’ve never seen such an amazing connection,” said Foster. “Our boys were off-the-hook excited. They jumped right in and it was an exceptional experience.” 

Glass is the founder of the Mending Walls mural project and All In Together, a collaborative effort designed to highlight art and beauty from different communities in the area. “The premise of the All In Together project is based around different individuals, schools or organizations coming together to make something, and that’s what we’ve done here. We’ve brought together two different communities to create this work,” said Glass.

Glass hopes that students from both schools learn that creative projects are great ways to build connections with other people, regardless of background. “It’s a great way to discover how similar we are, no matter what community we come from,” said Hamilton.