ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR FAIRFAX MURALS

The Saturday Edition of The St. Albans Messenger has the photos I scanned with identification and were taken by Stina Plant - For Internet Purposes, these young students are not identified.

Students' artworks depict 'community' as they understand it

By EMILY WILLS - Messenger Correspondent

FAIRFAX — The middle school gym at Bellows Free Academy has an entirely differently look to it this week.

Where basketballs normally bounce and students usually run in physical education classes, instead there were huge pieces of white plywood and charcoal. Gym shorts gave way to smocks speckled with brightly colored paint.

This all was evident of a visit by Terry Sylvester, a Brattleboro mural painter.

In 1996 Sylvester painted a giant mural in her town that depicts Brattleboro as it was in late 1800s. She also has worked as an art designer on several movies, including "Batman" "Mystic River and "A Beautiful Mind."

This week however, Sylvester lent her talents to the sixth, seventh and eighth graders as each homeroom -- 11 in all -- works to create murals that will hang in the stairwell and hallways leading into the middle school wing.

The theme of each mural is "community," and each homeroom was able to brainstorm exactly what community means to them. For some, it was concrete examples of groups such as the Girl Scouts. For others, more abstract ideas prevailed, such as diversity and peace. Each of the murals is 4 by 8 feet.

Jan Jeffords' eighth grade homeroom designed its mural around many cows lying in a field under a sky in which stars form peace signs and hearts. Each student in her class drew his or her own cow.

Jerry Bailey's seventh grade homeroom designed a mural comprised of puzzle pieces, the idea being that although all the students are different, they come together to make something cohesive and special.

Students had altered scheduling this week to allow each class three days with Sylvester with forty minutes of working time each day. This does not seem like much, but the many hands make for lighter work.

Andre Yandow is a seventh grader in Lisa Griswold's homeroom. He thought the mural project was fun.
"She (Sylvester) gave us guidance but let us do the mural by ourselves," said Yandow.

Nicolas Hurt is an eighth grader in Jim Lonergan's homeroom. He said, "I really liked how all of us could work together on one final product."
Hurt said one of the challenges, after three days of concentrated effort with a deadline looming, was to keep people enthusiastic and on task. Overall, the students seemed highly involved with the project and to be enjoying themselves.

Sylvester believes that is the main reason for doing artist-residence projects like this one.

"I do it mainly because I love to see the kids get so excited,” she said. Her visit to BFA is the only artist-in-residence program Sylvester has participated in this year, although in past years she has done as many as six school visits.

"These projects give satisfaction on a lot of levels, because they are inevitably successful Sylvester said. "The murals are big and fast, not too complicated and everyone can participate.

Sylvester said the support the administration gave to her on her visit and the cooperation and flexibility of the teachers involved were essential for project's success.

The murals the sixth, seventh and eighth grades created will be permanently displayed in the middle school. For more information on Terri Sylvester, or to contact her for an artist-in-residence program, e-mail her at hts@sover.net or call (802) 257-7930.