Growing Friendships around the world, Shorewood Hills Elementary School, 2007

     Brenda Gratton, Leora Saposnik, art teacher K. Michele Hatchel, and Fabu worked with the entire international student body of Shorewood Hills Elementary school to create the mosaic, "Growing Friendships around the World." It now hangs in the entry way of the school and symbolizes all the wonderful international friendships formed as people come and go.  We worked with the children, letting their imaginations inspire the composition. They all worked very hard to help create the piece. They began with drawings and ideas and carried it through to creating clay pieces and laying out the mosaic.  Fabu, Madison's Poet Laureate at the time, helped the children write poetry about friendship, which the children read at the mosaic unveiling. They also made their own individual mosaics and poetry bracelets to bring home. It was a large year long project, that was incredibly successful in making each child feel a part of the whole. It was a wonderful way to honor my own children's time at Shorewood.
​     This project was funded by Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission, The Foundation for Madison's Public Schools, and Shorewood Hills Elementary School PTO.