FAIRMONT ELEMENTARY TO CELEBRATE THE
COMPLETION OF SCHOOL MURAL BY ARTIST LAILA ESPINOZA AT OPEN HOUSE ON THURSDAY, MAY 28. JOIN US!
Kindergarten students hard at work
Artist Laila Espinoza’s mural, titled `Growing Minds,’ at Fairmont
School will be dedicated during an Arts Night featuring a display of student
art and performances by San Francisco-based Peruvian Dance Co. and Lalo
Izquierdo; Afro-Colombian dancer Johanna Suarez; and the Fairmont After School Enrichment Program
dance group.
The mural “Growing Minds” by Laila Espinoza now
graces the kindergarten yard at Fairmont
School, the oldest school in El Cerrito. Depicting the inspirational profiles of two
faces looking at each other, the branches of trees intertwining, the sun,
flowers and butterflies, the mural brings to mind the endless possibilities
that come with knowledge.
The mural will be dedicated at the school’s Open House on May 28 at 7:20 p.m. at 724 Kearney,
El Cerrito. In celebration of the mural, the PTA is
holding an Arts Night, which will
feature performances by San
Francisco-based Afro-Peruvian dancer Lalo Izquierdo and the Peruvian Dance Co.;
Afro-Colombian dancer Johanna Suarez; and the Fairmont After School Program dance
group. Student art works will also be on
display.
Taking almost three months to complete, the debut mural by
artist and art teacher Laila Espinoza will expose the work of a budding artist
to a broader audience. The mural faces
the parking lot of the El Cerrito Library. Laila's mural was commissioned early
this year by the Fairmont PTA, which felt that a work of art in the public
sphere would add significantly to the daily experience of every student at the
school. The mural theme of “Growing Minds” is a continuation of the school's
vision as a great place to grow, which has also inspired the establishment of a
PTA-sponsored edible garden.
Laila Espinoza, a native of Juarez,
Chihuahua, Mexico,
is a regular exhibitor at the La Pena Cultural Center in Berkeley
and the Casa Oaxaca Gallery in Albany.
Laila has taught at Fairmont's
after-school program for two years. More information available at http://www.lailaespinoza.com/
Almost all 60 kindergarten students at Fairmont School
took part in creating the mural by painting flowers and grasses. East Bay Paint Center
at 990 San Pablo Ave.
in Albany
donated most of the paint used in the project.
The rest of the materials were purchased with a grant from the Fairmont
PTA, which is now trying to raise $100 to pay for the varnish that will
preserve the mural.
Earth Day 2009: Making the School Beautiful
Good Clean Fun
We had a great group of parents and Fairmont neighbors together, working really hard to clean up Fairmont on Saturday, April 25! There were around 40 of us, including Fairmont students, kids about to enter Fairmont, and Fairmont alums. We accomplished a lot thanks to their efforts -- the construction of two raised beds and a potting table; the painting of the new beds and some older beds; the removal of diseased bushes and weeds from the edible garden, the front of the school and elsewhere; the spreading of 1 cubic yard of mulch; and the disposal of trash.
Some of Our Super Volunteers -- Thanks!
