Monday, July 20, 2015

our new mural!

Once again, our 5th grade students participated in a legacy project at the end of the school year. This provides an opportunity for them to leave a positive mark on the school and our community. They look forward to this experience every year.

This year's mural was done on our new 2 story building that houses kindergarten and 2nd grade classrooms. It's a very cool looking piece of architecture, but the exterior is so plain compared to all the other colorfully painted buildings on our campus.

The idea for the mural was to provide our kindergarten students with a fun and colorful introduction to geometric shapes, shape and color patterns, and overlapping shapes. The gate that is in the center of the wall is the main entry and exit for our kinders. The mural is also highly visible from one of our lunch arbors and brightens the view from various points on campus, as well as the neighboring community park.

Thanks to everyone involved- our students, their teachers for being flexible with their schedules, and our administration for seeing the power of these murals and continuing to support public art projects like these on our campus.






Thursday, July 2, 2015

celebration of art 2015 edition!

Well, in my 14 years at Zamo we never had rain to contend with during our Celebration of Art festivities... until last night, that is.

I must say, that although unusual for San Diego in July, the rain did not dampen the spirit of the event at all:) Attendance was robust and their were tons of smiles to brighten any gloom that drops from the sky may have brought.

Again, our incredible classroom teachers and staff were amazing while leading 10 different activities for our community to participate in. Our PTF rocked ticket and food sales. Our administration hung tough in the wet silent auction area. We were visited by our School Board President, the San Diego County VAPA Coordinator, and this morning our SDUSD Superintendent stopped by too.

I am so proud of what our kids accomplish every year. It's so great to be able to share the creative work of our students with our school community and VAPA decision makers at the district level and beyond.

Thanks to everyone who lent a hand in making the event another great evening of art making and art appreciation! We couldn't do it without you.

our school musicians kicking off the evening.


rain!










Superintendent Marten with Principal Murchison and Mrs. Liggins:)












 one proud dude!

 observing and reflecting by writing fan letters to student artists:)



from left to right- Principal Derek Murchison, artist in residence Danielle Guimond, VP Robert Vera, School Board President Marne Foster, art teacher Melony Vance, SD County VAPA coordinator Russ Sperling, artist in residence Kathi Arinduque (and her grandson:), and me

A peek at some of the hands on activities that kids could participate in.








All of the projects below were done by classroom teachers with their classes. Each student is represented on campus in these class displays.

 kindergarten owls!

 2nd grade scratch art!


 2nd grade hot air balloons!

 4th grade rotational symmetry!

 5th grade self portraits!

 3rd grade oil pastels!



Here's a little video I put together after the event. I think the music suits the spirit of the night pretty well:)