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Colorful creations fill campus of John Hopkins Middle School
Colorful creations fill the campus of John Hopkins Middle School in Pinellas County. It's part of an effort to partner art with education. As FOX 13 photojournalist Barry Wong show us, the school's latest mural highlights the collaboration between students and local artists.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - At John Hopkins Middle School, art is present everywhere on campus.
"We are the arts school in the district," John Hopkins Middle School Assistant Principal Kimberly Vongsyprasom said. "We're one-of-a-kind, so we bring in local artists that come in and actually work with our students during the school day on specific topics that they're learning."
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Background:
The magnet school is known as the Center for the Arts, Journalism and Gifted Students and features a variety of art, music and dance classes. A unique aspect to the campus is murals.
"We have muralists that come and do live art as well as do art behind the scenes. That way the students can see themselves outside of the school setting," Vongsyprasom said.
Big picture view:
The school’s latest mural, "Nourishing Growth," was partially designed and painted by students, as part of a collaboration with St. Petersburg muralist Nicole Salgar. The mural features colorful flowers on the two corners surrounding the cafeteria’s main stage.
"I feel it kind of represents nature and growth and how it kind of relates to, you know, being in a school like you grow, you learn new things," seventh grader Gabriella Barron said.
Dig deeper:
From the conceptualizing to painting stages, students said they learned a lot throughout the process.
"I learned that you have to have a lot of depth, and there has to be a lot of shading to really get the whole emotions of the flower," seventh grader Caitlyn Faylo said.
Salgar said she hopes the mural empowers the students and sends the message that they can shape the world around them.
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"It was really cool, because I felt like I extremely affected the mural, and I had a say in something really cool and really big that'll most likely be here for even after I leave to go on to high school," eighth grader Cole Morgan said.
What's next:
School staff hope they can add a handful of murals each year to the campus.
"I was really excited because I was hopeful about leaving my mark on the school because I'm in seventh grade," Barron said. "I'm leaving next year, and it was really exciting being able to still be a part of the school in a way even after I'm gone."
The Source: The information in this story was gathered through interviews with John Hopkins Middle School Assistant Principal Kimberly Vongsyprasom and students.
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