Mandy van Leeuwen: "This one was a collaboration by parents and teachers of the
school; and it was my very first collaboration with Michel. We broke down some
elements of what this Mural would contain: the choir, that it was a Catholic school,
literature, children reading to each other; symbolism of school, such as the apple."
The geometric patterns at the left were used to fill out the mural so that the whole wall
would get used. It works beautifully here and helps bring a balance to the whole design.
Because the tree is there Mandy and Michel made sure that the important details that the
school wanted were unobscured in the centre and right panel.
Mandy: "Although we weren't going to use any strong religious symbols on the wall, we
didn't see any reason why there shouldn't be a portrait of a Catholic Nun on their school.
We thought it very appropriate. You can see that her face is glowing from the story that
she is reading. Her face is rather a focal point although her face isn't as large as the choir
faces. The choir faces consist of a woman, an older man, a child and a teenager; a mix of
age and culture. 'let the children come' is a biblical phrase; and here it refers to teaching
them."
