Wacker Elementary’s Artistic Makeover (feat. Wrigley Seats)
A visual arts residency with teaching artist Jonathan Franklin at Wacker Elementary in Washington Heights transformed school hallways, stairwells, ceilings – you name it – into an artistic haven.
Jonathan worked with Kindergarten through 8th grade students at Wacker from November 2013 through May 2014. He used relatively simple artistic techniques to help students create colorful, inviting, and geometric pieces that, when combined with classmates’ work, can overhaul an entire hallway. Or many hallways, as you can see in the photos below.
On May 8, photography volunteer Alayna Kudalis and I visited Wacker to get an exclusive tour of this school exhibition from Jonathan. This accumulation of six months’ work is no small feat, and Jonathan’s curation of the project is incredible. We’re only sorry the school couldn’t remain coated in art forever! A few favorite sights:
See the entire photo collection below. Thanks a million, Alayna, for the beautiful documentation!
One more interesting element of Jonathan’s residency: Jonathan, along with after school students, helped the Cubs to repaint these Wrigley Field seats in honor of Wrigley’s 100th Anniversary:
Thank you to Jonathan, Alayna, Wacker Elementary, and of course, Wacker’s talented students!