Notes from the school art teacher:

Last year I had this idea of having all of the students at my schoolwork with an artist to create a Trompe-l’oeil mural. This mural would be located in the two-story stairway of Wilmot School.

To finance this massive project I had already received one grant so I enlisted the help of our P.T.O. president to work with me in procuring two additional grants. I also directed my volunteer art parent to enlist other parents to help manage the flow of the 540 students working on this mural since we envisioned that each child would have two kindergartens through fifth grades.

After numerous interviews I chose Doug Coggeshall as the artist. This was a new undertaking for him since he had not worked with children in this capacity before.

As the project unfolded “Doug” as our students called him, requested a preliminary visit to school so that he could get an idea of what the students wanted in the mural and so we could introduce them to what a Trompe-l’oeil mural was. This was very inspiring for the children and they submitted multiple sketches of what they thought might be included in this mural.

If they couldn’t depict what their idea was they were to write a short note explaining what they were trying to sketch.

Doug compiled his ideas from all the sketches and submitted a rough draft for approval, which we eagerly accepted and hung on the wall to be painted. Students started buzzing about our special project.

We had many discussions as to what type of surface for the painting we would use, Doug decided to use a non-toxic water based Venetian plaster. Students started spreading a layer of plaster on the cinderblocks and sanding it so the wall would have a smooth surface and would act as a primer.

Next the students helped to transfer an enlarged sketch of the draft onto the plastered wall. As the picture transferred they became mesmerized about what they were seeing, a mural was emerging and they were more and more excited about being a part of this massive project.

When the plastering was done they started painting the background of the scene and worked their way down to the foreground. Patience had to be learned since everyone wanted to immediately paint the foreground objects. Students learned that things are not always the color they appear to be and to use color mixing to create more depth or to create Trompe stone.

A key principle students acquired from working on this project was that many people could work together in creating one fantastic result. As students walked past the mural during it’s inception they stopped to look at the results and many discussions arose.

Students feel an ownership toward the mural since their hands physically touched the surface during the process of its creation. They are proud that their work is a permanent part of the school forever. They come visit and take time to observe and discuss the mural for years to come. What a terrific legacy.

Penny Weinberg

Venetian plaster, trompe-l'oeil, grisaille, faux finishes crinkle or leather finish. Murals. , a weathered stonewall or a forest with a lively stream; A mural of a jungle with exotic animals and birds in a children’s room , or murals for a great room, or decorate a bedroom, a kitchen; a bath or powder room.