Mural Field Trip
On Saturday, November 2021, more than twenty children in our Literacy through the Arts (LTA) after school program and their parents traveled to Andersonville (a neighborhood on the north side of Chicago) to explore the murals to be found in this community.
The day began by discussing “Color Through Chaos”, a vivid work of art created by artists Kristianna Jacques and CJ Williams. According to the artists, the idea for this mural came from an old sketch Jacques had in her notebook of a sun-like image. The mural, on the side of Honeybear Cafe, was a perfect beginning to the day’s adventures.
After a short walk down Clark St, we arrived at our third mural. This was the first to include the “feeling” senses. Created by Heather Hancock, “LINK” uses paint as well as glass to comment on the intersection between cities and nature. The children loved finding the glass elements in the mural with their fingers.
“Life at the Intersections” was our fourth mural and the one on which we spent the most time. The children had a blast devising stories about some of the people in the mural. We also had conversations about how art, composting, and a strong sense of community help neighborhoods thrive.
We ended our mural trip outside of “First Slice”, a bakery that provided us with steaming mugs of hot chocolate to end. There, we also found a beautiful, peaceful mural of a lake and sailboat.
At the end of the day, it was incredible to see so many smiling children and their parents. It was a beautiful way to spend quality time together as a family, and we loved this opportunity to facilitate this bond between our students and parents.
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