Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Collaborative Murals (by Mrs. Klitzing)

Helen Keller once said, “Alone we can do so little.  Together we can do so much.”  With this spirit in mind, 6th Grade artists set out to accomplish a large task.

As a part of our Hispanic Heritage Unit, we learned a little bit about the famous Mexican muralist, Diego Rivera.  He loved to paint huge murals that everyday people could enjoy.  Rivera often painted indigenous people of Mexico in his murals to celebrate Mexican culture and heritage.  

We selected three of Rivera’s murals to recreate.  Students were admittedly intimidated to recreate the work of a famous artist - especially since his murals were SO huge!  However, after learning that they only needed to create one portion of the artwork, the project seemed much less daunting.  Each mural was turned into a grid, and students received one square of that grid to replicate.  

Students sketched, painted with watercolor, and added details with black ink and oil pastels to complete their portion of the mural.  It was awesome to see the students’ creative methods.  In some cases, students paired up so they could make sure their neighboring squares aligned and flowed together nicely.  Other students just decided to go for it!   

After a few class periods, it was time to assemble our murals and reflect on our work.  We admired how although each square doesn’t match up perfectly, all of the squares come together to form something beautiful.   Each student has a different interpretation of their portion of the mural - from the colors they chose to the techniques they used.  We can’t help but relate this to us as people.  No matter what background we come from,  or what our differences are, we can all come together to create beautiful things, living together as dearly loved children of God.