Julie Püttgen: Student Mural Projects
The Ground Beneath Our Feet (Nashua, Monroe, and Thornton, NH )
"The Ground Beneath Our Feet" is a STEAM partnership between the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, the White Mountain National Forest and The GLOBE Worldwide Science and Educational Program. Launched in 2016, the program supported three interdisciplinary STEAM residencies in NH public school fourth-grade classrooms in Nashua, Campton and Monroe. The residencies combined GLOBE soil curriculum materials, hands-on soil science observation with WMNF soil scientist Andy Colter, and production of large-scale Soil Murals in collaboration with artist in residence Julie Püttgen.
Phase I culminated with the production of a traveling Soil Tent, incorporating imagery from the school residency murals. The Soil Tent -- which is available at no charge to schools and community organizations throughout the state -- is configured to elicit the striking sensory experience of entering into the earth, with its layers and creatures on display. Within the Tent, a series of interactive displays and experiment stations developed by GLOBE offer students opportunities to deepen their curiosity about and understanding of the soil, and to emerge with new tools for observing their environment, wherever they may find themselves.
For more information, please visit https://www.nhartslearning.org/post/the-ground-beneath-our-feet and https://groundbeneathourfeet.weebly.com/school-soil-murals.html
"The Ground Beneath Our Feet" is a STEAM partnership between the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, the White Mountain National Forest and The GLOBE Worldwide Science and Educational Program. Launched in 2016, the program supported three interdisciplinary STEAM residencies in NH public school fourth-grade classrooms in Nashua, Campton and Monroe. The residencies combined GLOBE soil curriculum materials, hands-on soil science observation with WMNF soil scientist Andy Colter, and production of large-scale Soil Murals in collaboration with artist in residence Julie Püttgen.
Phase I culminated with the production of a traveling Soil Tent, incorporating imagery from the school residency murals. The Soil Tent -- which is available at no charge to schools and community organizations throughout the state -- is configured to elicit the striking sensory experience of entering into the earth, with its layers and creatures on display. Within the Tent, a series of interactive displays and experiment stations developed by GLOBE offer students opportunities to deepen their curiosity about and understanding of the soil, and to emerge with new tools for observing their environment, wherever they may find themselves.
For more information, please visit https://www.nhartslearning.org/post/the-ground-beneath-our-feet and https://groundbeneathourfeet.weebly.com/school-soil-murals.html
Food and Art Murals (AVA, Lebanon, NH)
The two-week Teen Food and Art Mural Camps at AVA, an independent community arts center in Lebanon, NH, grew out of my passion for the local food economy. Having done stints as a farmhand, milker, farm-kitchen worker, and catering assistant, I wanted to offer kids the chance to ask interesting questions about where their food comes from, and how restaurants and farms work. I also wanted to give my students a chance to share their skills with the local community. Adam Blue (the Education Director at AVA), Paul Coates (Director of Lebanon Parks & Recreation), and I worked together to find a public site for the murals. We decided on the wrought-iron fence around the Lebanon Green, the center of town & the location of the very popular Lebanon Farmers' Market.
My students and I traveled to Cedar Circle Farm, where we met with Cat Buxton, an amazing Education Director and organic farming advocate. We toured Dazzle Cupcakes, Three Tomatoes Trattoria, Peking Tokyo, the Lebanon Diner, and the Asian Foods Superstore - all local food establishments - speaking with chefs, cooks, and food entrepreneurs. Back in the studio, we played various sketching games to come up with compositional ideas for the murals, and students honed their ideas for subject matter and detail. The paintings were done in latex house paint on heavy-duty canvas, which we grommeted for easy installation.
On the last afternoon of camp, we invited parents, local food friends, and AVA staff to come eat specially decorated Dazzle cupcakes, while unveiling the murals in downtown Lebanon. At least one Food and Art mural has gone on to another public life: one student's mural, donated to Cedar Circle Farm, was featured in a farm activists' gathering on the front steps of the state Capitol in Montpelier, VT.
The two-week Teen Food and Art Mural Camps at AVA, an independent community arts center in Lebanon, NH, grew out of my passion for the local food economy. Having done stints as a farmhand, milker, farm-kitchen worker, and catering assistant, I wanted to offer kids the chance to ask interesting questions about where their food comes from, and how restaurants and farms work. I also wanted to give my students a chance to share their skills with the local community. Adam Blue (the Education Director at AVA), Paul Coates (Director of Lebanon Parks & Recreation), and I worked together to find a public site for the murals. We decided on the wrought-iron fence around the Lebanon Green, the center of town & the location of the very popular Lebanon Farmers' Market.
My students and I traveled to Cedar Circle Farm, where we met with Cat Buxton, an amazing Education Director and organic farming advocate. We toured Dazzle Cupcakes, Three Tomatoes Trattoria, Peking Tokyo, the Lebanon Diner, and the Asian Foods Superstore - all local food establishments - speaking with chefs, cooks, and food entrepreneurs. Back in the studio, we played various sketching games to come up with compositional ideas for the murals, and students honed their ideas for subject matter and detail. The paintings were done in latex house paint on heavy-duty canvas, which we grommeted for easy installation.
On the last afternoon of camp, we invited parents, local food friends, and AVA staff to come eat specially decorated Dazzle cupcakes, while unveiling the murals in downtown Lebanon. At least one Food and Art mural has gone on to another public life: one student's mural, donated to Cedar Circle Farm, was featured in a farm activists' gathering on the front steps of the state Capitol in Montpelier, VT.
Sewanee Biology Mural (Sewanee: the University of the South)
The students and faculty of the Biology Department and the students in my Intermediate / Advanced Painting class at Sewanee: the University of the South collaborated to design and implement a mural in the new Spencer Science Building on campus. We began with a proposal process, where teams of my students interviewed members of the Biology community (our clients - who were funding our materials through a small grant) to determine their desires for the project: What should be depicted? What was important to include? What were the different aspects of biology included in the Department's curriculum? My students prepared proposals and presented them. The biologists selected a winning design, and the painters set about researching imagery, materials, and methods.
Over the space of six weeks, the project went from a speculative collegial conversation to a fully realized work of public art, suitably sealed under UV coating, and designed to last for many years. For my students, as for myself, the Sewanee Biology Mural was an opportunity to engage in true interdisciplinary collaboration; to step outside the comfort zone of the painting studio and into the public space of an unfamiliar building; and to surprise ourselves with the scope and clarity of our skills, when applied to a rewarding, shared task.
The students and faculty of the Biology Department and the students in my Intermediate / Advanced Painting class at Sewanee: the University of the South collaborated to design and implement a mural in the new Spencer Science Building on campus. We began with a proposal process, where teams of my students interviewed members of the Biology community (our clients - who were funding our materials through a small grant) to determine their desires for the project: What should be depicted? What was important to include? What were the different aspects of biology included in the Department's curriculum? My students prepared proposals and presented them. The biologists selected a winning design, and the painters set about researching imagery, materials, and methods.
Over the space of six weeks, the project went from a speculative collegial conversation to a fully realized work of public art, suitably sealed under UV coating, and designed to last for many years. For my students, as for myself, the Sewanee Biology Mural was an opportunity to engage in true interdisciplinary collaboration; to step outside the comfort zone of the painting studio and into the public space of an unfamiliar building; and to surprise ourselves with the scope and clarity of our skills, when applied to a rewarding, shared task.
Moonshine Maggie's Mural (Monteagle, TN)
When I first arrived as a tenure-track painting professor at Sewanee, I was interested in finding ways to connect with the local community, as a way of branching out from campus life and educating myself. A friend, who had been speeding a lot of time playing pool in the neighboring town of Monteagle, mentioned that the owners of the local honky-tonk, Moonshine Maggie's, were looking for someone to paint a mural on the side of their building. Aha! I thought this might be just the ticket...
So I showed up to the bar one open mike night and introduced myself. Initial contact was awkward: just who exactly are you? But we soon came to understand one another, and in exchange for fried fish sandwiches, my Beginning and Intermediate Painting students and I painted a mural of the moon, the Cumberland Plateau, some musicians, and one seemingly quite reckless car. It was a wonderful experience for all involved: the students got to feel their skills were valued and appreciated; our clients got a mural they were very happy with; and I got to learn all sorts of things about local politics, while leading my students in a deeply satisfying project.
When I first arrived as a tenure-track painting professor at Sewanee, I was interested in finding ways to connect with the local community, as a way of branching out from campus life and educating myself. A friend, who had been speeding a lot of time playing pool in the neighboring town of Monteagle, mentioned that the owners of the local honky-tonk, Moonshine Maggie's, were looking for someone to paint a mural on the side of their building. Aha! I thought this might be just the ticket...
So I showed up to the bar one open mike night and introduced myself. Initial contact was awkward: just who exactly are you? But we soon came to understand one another, and in exchange for fried fish sandwiches, my Beginning and Intermediate Painting students and I painted a mural of the moon, the Cumberland Plateau, some musicians, and one seemingly quite reckless car. It was a wonderful experience for all involved: the students got to feel their skills were valued and appreciated; our clients got a mural they were very happy with; and I got to learn all sorts of things about local politics, while leading my students in a deeply satisfying project.