Photos of the Day: Atholton Elementary Mosaic Unveiled

Artist in Residence Carien Quiroga spent six days in November working with Altholton Elementary School fourth- and fifth-graders.

The South African artist guided the students through an art, science and writing project that resulted in a mosaic mural that will grace the front wall of the school for many years to come.

Each student contributed to the final mural by creating smaller pieces, according to Altholton PTA Cultural Arts Chairwoman Tatum Liguori. Each student made a metal embossed square and a circular mosaic piece that would all be incorporated in the final product.

"It was amazing to see the project come together over those six days," Liquori said. "I didn't see how it ws going to get finished in that time."

Parents pitched in to do some final grouting that couldn't be completed in the six-day program, but that small task was the only one not performed by students, she said.

Every element of the mural, including the title "Hands of Nature," came from the children themselves, Liguori said.

On the first day with Quiroga, students brainstormed to come up with a list of words related to nature that inspire them.

From there, they chose the most inspirational and drew pictures to represent those words.

Quiroga then used all of those pictures to create the mural's overall design.

Students created the metal and tile representations of those drawings, which were them pieced together on four large boards.

On Dec. 20, the mural was unveiled to an audience of fourth- and fith-graders, their parents and school personnel.

Quiroga's visit was funded by the Howard County Arts Council, Howard County government, the Maryland Dtate Arts Council, the Columbia Foundation, Target and the Altholton Elementary School PTA.