Thirty-six Shaker art students participated in a public art mural project last spring, now on display at the Shaker Schools warehouse, 3620 Lee Road. An anonymous community donor funded the colorful project, which includes 25 panels, each 4- by 8-feet. High School art teachers Karen DeMauro, Kris Walter and Meryl Haring supervised the project and the participating students.
The project also awarded cash prizes to four students for their work. A panel of judges, which included Shaker Schools Superintendent Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr., local artist Jerry Smith, High School principal Jonathan Kuehnle, Shaker Arts Council representative Sally Levine, Shaker Heights City Planner Christian Roadman, and PTO representative Susan Rotatori selected the winning designs. Winners included: Olivia Forsyth’s (SHHS ‘17) tree panels (first place $100 award), Tino Ponce DeLeon’s (SHHS ‘17) flag panels (second place $75 award), junior Isaiah Steiner's music man panels (third place $50 award), and senior Skylar Biggerman's animal eye murals (also third place $50 award). Both Forsyth and Ponce DeLeon worked on their panels as part of their senior projects. Ms. DeMauro estimates that Forsyth spent approximately 70 hours on her murals, which she painted almost exclusively on her own.
"This was an incredible opportunity for students, staff and community to come together in collaboration to create art for the beautification of Shaker. This occasion also gave our students real world experience in learning the process to create public art," says DeMauro.
The following current and recently graduated students also participated in the painting of the murals: Victory Farrell, Brent Bell, Maeve Billings, Emma Duhamel, Hana Flamm, Sophia Geisler, Madeleine Marie Laurent, Sarah Moran, Julia Shin, Caroline Walsh, Ariana Bliss, Lindsey Bradley, Liam Braman, Sophie Browner, Sarah Brunot, Jonathan Goins, Najah Johnson, Philip Kalafatis, Max Landow, Tyanna Reeves, Indee Sanders, Christina Seneviratne, Theodore Moore, Claire Ockner, Rose Solomon, Cole Wade, Lyle Yost, Miles Callahan, Maria Maldonado, Isaac Moore, and Christopher Scott.