Students under the tutorage of Julie Trout, Seattle Public Schools Visual Arts Specialist, from John Muir Elementary, located in South Seattle learned about the art and history of mosaic while creating their Youth Art Peace Pole. They said our Peace Pole will be featured as part of a community space. “We decided to create our Peace Pole with recycled and repurposed glass mosaic tiles with the colors of the rainbow representing our dedication to honoring our diverse community and support peace in our community and the global world.”
Much of the student population is from different parts of Africa so they were especially excited to hear of the tree planting (The Peace Pole Project is working with the not for profit “Trees for the Future” to get 10 saplings planted on the African Continent for each Peace Pole from the PPP). One student even said when he grows up and goes back to Africa (Somalia) he will try to visit the trees. Julie added “We are doing something a little different by creating a mosaic which is challenging but I think will be beautiful!”
Part of their Press Release read: “Julie Trout, art teacher at John Muir is honored to represent Washington State in this global movement. While most Peace Poles are painted she decided to work with students on creating a mosaic from recycled glass so each student could contribute a piece and to create a colorful and inspiring sculpture that will greet families and students entering the playground. John Muir is a joyous and diverse school with students from many cultures and many backgrounds. John Muir is also part of an initiative called the Creative Advantage- a partnership between City of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools, that is bringing more arts to traditionally underserved schools in order to bring equal access to arts education to all students in Seattle Public schools. The mosaic Peace Pole is scheduled to be installed June 7th during a community work party then a student/community celebration is planned in September for International Day of Peace.”
