Del Mar Hills Academy in California Collaborates Via Videoconferencing with Trinity Elementary School in New York to Create a Sept. 11 Commemorative Mural

Del Mar Hill Schools of Arts and Sciences located in Del Mar, in conjunction with The Art Miles Mural Project held an all-school assembly this morning to launch the West Coast “Children’s Version of The Manhattan Memorial Mural”. A commemorative 500-foot mural will be completed by students from the East and West coasts and displayed at Ground Zero on the 5th anniversary of the tragic September 11, 2006.

Del Mar, CA (PRWEB) January 11, 2006

More than 450 students and teachers from Del Mar Hill Schools of Arts and Sciences, a K-6 grade fine arts academy, located in Del Mar, in conjunction with The Art Miles Mural Project held an all-school assembly this morning to launch the West Coast “Children’s Version of The Manhattan Memorial Mural”. A commemorative 500-foot mural will be completed by students from the East and West coasts and displayed on the 5th anniversary of the tragic September 11, 2006. Del Mar Hills Academy and Trinity Elementary School located in New York City will each create a 250-foot segment of the mural and connect them together as part of the Art Miles Mural Project’s Peace, Unity and Healing Mural.

Students of both schools will develop the design of the mural with assistance provided by their teachers, through integrating research for their design in classroom social studies, geography, science and art classes over the next few months, with sketching beginning in early spring, and painting completed by end of school year. Plans are also being made for students and teachers to participate in scheduled videoconference and web casting sessions between both schools.

A miniature version of the integrated design will then be painted on the Del Mar Hill’s school wall as a permanent exhibition. The adult version of the Manhattan Memorial Mural, which is the inspiration for the project, was designed and launched by Mr. Cady Macasa, a popular San Diego artist and muralist who passed away in 2005.

At Del Mar Hills Academy the educational program is founded on a fundamental structure of standards-based, progressive and developmental core curricular instruction. This is supported by the infusion of the fine arts into core teaching concepts. The seven “hallmarks” of “expression”, “discovery”, “innovation”, “aesthetics”, “self-reflection”, “interconnection”, and “discovery.” The integrated program is instrumental in fostering learning connections between the “right and left” brain. Thus, making learning and thought processes more meaningful. Core curricular concepts are extended and reinforced by meaningful lessons in music, art, science and technology that are interwoven into every aspect of the teaching environment. The Children’s Version of the Manhattan Mural project fits the Academy philosophy perfectly. Every grade level will participate in both the actual conceptual development of the mural and the painting on the wall.

The Art Miles Mural Project, founded by San Diegan, Joanne Tawfilis and her husband, is both a local and global project based in San Diego and is one of the organizations that will be joining arts collaborative that will be moving to the new Liberty Station Promenade Arts and Culture Center. To date, over 41,000 painters from more than 100 countries have painted more than 1, 400 murals on canvas, which are part of a twelve-mile mural project and in support of the UNESCO Decade for the Culture of Peace and Non Violence Among Children of the World. (http://www.the-art-miles-mural-project.org)

For further information please contact: Ann Bertchold at: (858) 792-0018.

Del Mar Hills Academy, a National Blue Ribbon and California Distinguished School, provides unique learning opportunities for public school students through its innovative infused curriculum and SMArt philosophy. To learn more, please visit us at our website: http://www.dmusd.org/hills/default.aspx

# # #