A Collaborative Art Educator Mural

Since the beginning of the summer, the Davis Art Gallery has displayed a mural/collage created by sixteen art educators from around the United States and Canada. The mural was created during a workshop at the National Art Education Association annual convention held this past April in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Participants in the workshop worked with artist/mentor Alice Mizrachi (born 1977) to create a stunning collage that reflects the unique essence of the city. It was my great pleasure to hang the mural with Mizrachi.

Caroline McArthur (panels 1, 3, 5), Libby Weber (panels 2, 4), Michelle Visser (panel 6), Jennifer Kuipers (panel 8), Lindsey Stephan (panel 9), Yasmin Staunau (panel 10), Breanna Larson (panel 12), Kellen Deau (panels 13, 14, 15, 16), Cristian Tineo (panels 17, 18), Andrea Obenland (panels 19, 20), Lori Whillier (panels 21, 22), Mary Lamboley (panel 24), Laura Funk (panels 25, 26), Katie McEwan (panel 27, 28), Claire Keller (panels 29, 30), and Alice Mizrachi, Minneapolis Skyline, 2024. Collage paper, photographs of famous Minneapolis locales, paint, and yarn, total work: 40" x 20' (1 x 6 meters); each panel (30 total panels): 20" x 16" (51 x 40.6 cm). Displayed at the Davis Art Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Caroline McArthur (panels 1, 3, 5), Libby Weber (panels 2, 4), Michelle Visser (panel 6), Jennifer Kuipers (panel 8), Lindsey Stephan (panel 9), Yasmin Staunau (panel 10), Breanna Larson (panel 12), and Alice Mizrachi, Minneapolis Skyline, left side, 2024. Collage paper, photographs of famous Minneapolis locales, paint, and yarn, total work: 40" x 20' (1 x 6 meters); each panel (30 total panels): 20" x 16" (51 x 40.6 cm). Displayed at the Davis Art Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Lindsey Stephan (panel 9), Yasmin Staunau (panel 10), Breanna Larson (panel 12), Kellen Deau (panels 13, 14, 15, 16), Cristian Tineo (panels 17, 18), Andrea Obenland (panels 19, 20), Lori Whillier (panels 21, 22), and Alice Mizrachi, Minneapolis Skyline, middle, 2024. Collage paper, photographs of famous Minneapolis locales, paint, and yarn, total work: 40" x 20' (1 x 6 meters); each panel (30 total panels): 20" x 16" (51 x 40.6 cm). Displayed at the Davis Art Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Cristian Tineo (panels 17, 18), Andrea Obenland (panels 19, 20), Lori Whillier (panels 21, 22), Mary Lamboley (panel 24), Laura Funk (panels 25, 26), Katie McEwan (panel 27, 28), Claire Keller (panels 29, 30), and Alice Mizrachi, Minneapolis Skyline, right side, 2024. Collage paper, photographs of famous Minneapolis locales, paint, and yarn, total work: 40" x 20' (1 x 6 meters); each panel (30 total panels): 20" x 16" (51 x 40.6 cm). Displayed at the Davis Art Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts.

The following art educators participated in this project:

• Kellen Deau (Kalamazoo, MI)
• Laura Funk (Fairmont, WV)
• Claire Keller (Brooklyn, NY)
• Jennifer Kuipers (Rock Valley, IA)
• Mary Lamboley (Saint Louis, MO)
• Breanna Larson (River Falls, WI)
• Caroline McArthur (Bakersfield, CA)
• Katie McEwan (Clinton, MA)
• Andrea Obenland (Clearwater, FL)
• Yasmin Staunau (Eugene, OR)
• Lindsey Stephan (Fort Dodge, IA)
• Cristian Tineo (Lancaster, PA)
• Michelle Visser (Laramie, WY)
• Libby Weber (Glasgow, MT)
• Lori Whillier (Edmonton, AB, Canada)

National Art Education Association 2024 Convention Mural Workshop Participants with Alice Mizrachi and Peyton Scott Russell.

To inspire their creative process, Mizrachi engaged the teacher-artists in a discussion about Romare Bearden’s (1911–1988) The Block (1971), an artwork in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The educators’ discussions led to the conclusion that art can inspire connections to “place” and how “place” is relevant to artmaking. Like Bearden’s work, the participating educators used a variety of materials, combining painting and collage with found objects. The educators not only discovered the importance of place in the creation of artwork, but also the value of community and collaboration. Collaborative studio projects in the classroom are not only a good way to encourage students to share their creative processes, but also share a sense of pride in the finished work when it is displayed. The educators were each given a certain section of the Minneapolis skyline to memorialize, each producing between one and four finished panels.

Learn more about the artwork and creative process with a walkthrough of the mural in the Davis Art Gallery and a discussion with Mizrachi on K12ArtChat the podcast.

Caroline McArthur (panels 1, 3, 5), Libby Weber (panels 2, 4), Michelle Visser (panel 6), Jennifer Kuipers (panel 8), Lindsey Stephan (panel 9), Yasmin Staunau (panel 10), Breanna Larson (panel 12), Kellen Deau (panels 13, 14, 15, 16), Cristian Tineo (panels 17, 18), Andrea Obenland (panels 19, 20), Lori Whillier (panels 21, 22), Mary Lamboley (panel 24), Laura Funk (panels 25, 26), Katie McEwan (panel 27, 28), Claire Keller (panels 29, 30), and Alice Mizrachi, Minneapolis Skyline, 2024. Collage paper, photographs of famous Minneapolis locales, paint, and yarn, total work: 40" x 20' (1 x 6 meters); each panel (30 total panels): 20" x 16" (51 x 40.6 cm). Displayed at the Davis Art Gallery, Worcester, Massachusetts.

An interdisciplinary artist, public artist, art educator, and Davis Publications author, Mizrachi is based in New York and Miami. She is an activist who strives to empower the self and others through artistic expression. Her studio, public art, and education practices advocate for women, youth, and the environment. As a first-generation American woman of Sephardic Israeli descent, Mizrachi states that her identity “is reflected through intuitive ritualistic gestures honoring the sacred feminine and patterns inspired by Judeo-Arabic cultures.”

In her work, Mizrachi intentionally reveals the human presence in the making of her work in response to the increasing use of technology in everyday life. Her figurative works show a duality of deconstruction and reconstruction. She often incorporates narratives about her identity and experiences around being raised by parents who fled war-torn Tel-Aviv.

Mizrachi has shown her work with the Museum of the City of New York, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and the Buffalo AKG Art Museum. She has taught at The Studio Museum in Harlem, Brown University, The Laundromat Project, and BRIC Arts. She has also been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, and Architectural Digest. Mizrachi is a graduate of Parsons School of Design.

Alice Mizrachi adding final touches to unify in the mural composition.

Correlations to Davis programs: Explorations in Art 2E Grade 2: 6.4 studio time; Explorations in Art 2E Grade 3: 2.5; Explorations in Art 2E Grade 5: 4.7 studio time, 4.9; Experience Art: 8.2, Unit 5; A Community Connection 2E: 3.6; The Visual Experience 4E: 8.11, 4.13, 11.9