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525 Agnes Street (2)
Location Map
This Mural in honour of John M. King School's 100th anniversary is a bit unusual in the sense that it is painted on sheet metal.
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Location: NE corner Agnes & Ellice; West Entrance
Occupant: John M King School
District: West End
Neighbourhood: Daniel McIntyre
Artist(s): Alison Froese, John M. King Students (unsigned)
Year: 2008
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I was invited to come out to the school where I conducted this interview on what I
believe was the second last day of painting. The Mural, a celebration of the school's
100th anniversary, contains representations of the school's present and past building
which was also at this site (a very small part of the old school wall still stands at the
opposite end of the schoolyard field). The newer building was built in 1964- both the
new and old buildings were called John M. King School. The 'Knowledge is Power'
logo was one that was used at the old school. Although the Mural was completed in
2007, it was not installed until the spring of 2008.
Alison Froese (art teacher): "One of the ideas in this Mural is ribbons of colour and paths
of learning. It's not always a straight path so we wanted something more organic, not a
'box' shape. We think this is more visually appealing."
"We decided to use sheet metal as our painting surface. Because the Mural was to be
installed over the doorway at the entrance we thought metal on metal would be better and
safer. We primed the sheet metal, and we are using Behr exterior latex. The painting
environment in the room (see photo 2) is informal enough that the kids can come and go
as they please. Not all children have the same attention span, but when the kids are
painting they need to be giving me their best work or they can't stay in the room."
"The whole class got together to brainstorm for the Mural. The main idea they thought
was 100 years of learning. And then within that theme what they could come up with to
visually represent this theme. The students did a bunch of drawings which I reviewed
and I threw out a bunch of other ideas. All of the ideas in here are the kids' ideas. The
Jaguar is the school mascot. The 'TLC' stands for Take Care, Learn Together, Come
Prepared, which is the modern day school logo. We base a lot of our school assemblies
on TLC, which is anti-bullying, respectful language, and working together. We included
the Seven Sacred Teachings at the students' suggestion."
"The rainbow is also like a musical staff, and we have a good music program here. The
abacus stand for the old learning tools from long ago. Also emphasized in the Mural are
things like books, math and writing. The soccer ball and volleyball represent the sports
in the school and other aspects of learning. The school patrol guard and just people
playing and working together and community."
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