High Point art students create stained-glass murals

SUSSEX BOROUGH — Kelly Kuzicki was first introduced to the school gallery concept when she was hired to teach Visual-Fine Arts at High Point Regional High School five years ago:

“This ‘school gallery’ vision was, and still is, to make the classrooms and hallways stand out by integrating art everywhere," she said. "Our message is that art should be accessible to all in every space of the building.”

Kuzicki’s class meets Wednesdays and introduces art to exploratory students with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The project to begin creating stained-glass murals started in September when Kuzicki first got the idea from colleague, Fine Arts teacher Erin Meyers, and integrated the ideas of other teachers:

“It was normally a project that only the Honors/AP students would do, and I didn’t really like that idea,” Kuzicki said. “I didn’t want there to be any limitations. I sent out a questionnaire to the staff asking if anyone wanted a mural in their classroom or office, and if so, to specify a theme and mural size. I got a stack of 32 responses. Everybody wanted one.”

Before heading to their art-elective period on Wednesdays, most of the MCI students spend the day with Special Education teacher Joan Smith.

Kuzicki says she teaches normally 10 students of all different ages on any given Wednesday. With one completed mural entitled, ‘A Field of Peace Poppies,’ four others have been started.

“In the beginning of the school year,” Kuzicki said, “I learned from [Smith] that the students had never created anything with stained-glass before. Creating murals is a huge deal for them, especially considering the artwork will be showcased around the school. Sometimes, the MCI students get looked over. That doesn’t settle very well with me.”

Since graduating from Marywood University in Scranton, Pa., with a degree in Art Education, Kuzicki is now in the process of earning her Master’s in Educational Leadership at the College of New Jersey:

“I’m writing my thesis on encouraging creativity in the classroom," Kuzicki said. "A lot of the research that I have found has been completely disturbing to me. It suggests that only AP/Honors students and those with high IQs can create art. I don’t care how old you are or how limited your abilities; in my eyes, you can always be creative.”

Kuszicki said some of the students come to her class saying they can't draw stick figures, but she believes anyone can create art if they put their minds to it.

“Maybe sometimes, a student just needs to be shown the process," she said. "It’s really awesome that I get to do this with them. We’re proving the research wrong.”

Simple process
Five or less students work on a mural at a time. For safety reasons, Kuzicki pre-cuts wood and glass for the students before they begin working with the materials. Students glue the glass pieces together and then grout the image.

Junior Owen Thrift of Frankford worked on ‘A Field of Peace Poppies’ by gluing the glass pieces onto the wood. A time-consuming three-month process, Thrift said the end result of designing the mural was worth the effort:

“It was my first time ever doing it,” he said.

‘A Field of Peace Poppies,’ completed by five students, will be hung in the English Department, per the request of Language Arts teachers Patricia Porter and Caroline Bodnar-Keimel.

Sophomore Tyler Barker of Branchville arranged the glass pieces on a geometric piece for Special Education teacher Erin Bang, who wanted the mural that would hang in her room to be colorful.

“The hardest part? Cleaning it,” he said. “The glass is compressed very tightly together and it makes wiping down the mural tough.”

“I think it’s a great accomplishment for them," Kuzicki said. "We’re encouraged to always make the kids college and career-ready, and although the students don’t realize it, creating the murals is helping them with people/social skills, time-management skills, adhering to deadlines and demonstrating respect and rapport while working in a classroom with other people. The MCI class consists of motivated and truly gifted students. They should be celebrated for their hard work and creativity.”

Kuzicki hopes to finish at least 10 murals by the end of this school year.