St. Anne’s Belfield 8th Grade Mural

The Charlottesville Mural Project assisted the 8th Grade Class at St. Anne’s Belfield on a mural that will serve to commemorate each graduating 8th grade class throughout the years. We were excited to help with this mural, as it’s a very large wall in a prominent setting on the school’s campus.

Kim Cox, the middle school Art teacher, led the students in producing the mural.  The CMP was also fortunate to hire Patrick Costello, a local artist who worked on a mural with the Mural Arts Program in Philadelphia.  He assisted the students with the layout ideas, technical advice, and general knowledge in regards to slappin’ the paint on the wall.  We were to have him on board to offer his skills.

A smaller group of art-focused students from the 8th grade came up with the idea of a mural that would incorporate each year’s class mascot.  So while this year’s class will do the majority of the painting, next year’s class will paint their mascot on the wall in what will begin a long line of school mascots that parade down a path.  Apart from that clever and collaborative idea, students also “made their mark” by leaving a hand print on the wall.  The hand prints form the leaves of a large tree which stretches across the width of the mural.  The CMP was very impressed by their fantastic idea.

The painting began April 3rd and continued through the beginning of June!  While that seems like a long time, the students only had 45-minute sessions to get out the paint, start painting, and then clean up!  It’s incredible what was achieved only 8-10 sessions.

The mural stretches all the way up the hill.

The hand prints start to fill out the tree.

Each 8th grade student signed their name by their hand print.

A panoramic view of the finished wall.