High Point High School students complete ceramic tile mural

Contemporary crafts pupils design project High Point - The Contemporary Crafts students of Erin Meyers at High Point Regional High School have recently completed a large scale wall mural made of hand-carved ceramic relief tiles. The project, which took a few months to complete, began with early sketches by Fine Art students Christa Zinner, Samantha Muller and Sharon Allison. When a final design was settled upon, the image was drawn on a five-by-six paper grid. The grid was numbered, and four-by-four-inch squares were cut from hand-rolled clay slabs. As the slabs were cut, students sculpted the tiles, one by one, adding, subtracting, and forming the clay as needed. Once completed, the tiles were dried very slowly, nearly two weeks, to prevent warping. Finally, the tiles were bisque-fired, and then lain out on the grid, so that the group could decide on the colors to be used. The students brushed on underglazes to color the tiles before they underwent a second firing. When the tiles were removed from the kiln, a few color adjustments were made, and clear gloss was brushed on before the final firing. At last, it was time to affix the tiles to the wall. With use of tile adhesive and grout, the students installed their mural as a permanent fixture of the High Point Cafeteria. Many students joined Meyers in school over the summer to work on it, so that the mural would be glazed and installed before the new school year. The learning that took place was not limited to the subject of Art, in that there was a great deal of mathematical and logical thinking and planning involved, as well as lessons in persevering, overcoming obstacles, and enjoying the success of teamwork. After experiencing the entire process which began with an idea and simple pencil sketches, the students’ reaction to their finished mural was truly magical. We plan to continue to create more tile murals around the school in the future, as the feedback has been very positive.