By Mrs. George, LHS English Teacher
How does one create a masterpiece? One piece at a time.
That’s how it happened for art students at London High School as they prepared for the annual STEAM Fest in April of this year. It all started with a vision and some tape.
Art teacher Stacey Hallowes-Billiter had a vision for this year’s STEAM Fest. In addition to the photo-op stops throughout the hallways of LHS, Billiter wanted to do a bigger display or backdrop. What began as an idea of a mural or photo backdrop to showcase her drawing students soon evolved into something much bigger.
“I just came up with an idea for some kind of mural or display on the hallway wall,” says Billiter. From there, Billiter began floating ideas with her independent study drawing class. Beyond drawing something on the wall, Billiter decided students would use painter's tape as the medium to create their display. Painter's tape was the perfect choice, allowing for no mess or clean-up in the hallway. It was affordable, and it was a medium that could be procured quickly to begin working.
Deciding against something original, students opted to draw a replica of Van Gogh’s Starry Night, an idea spearheaded by drawing student Sophia Runyon. Billiter wasn’t sure. It was a huge undertaking, given little time and limited resources.
Over the next few weeks, students began to line and grid the wall to set the scale for a drawing of Starry Night. Students were given paper prints of the picture and assigned sections to begin work. As Billiter watched the drawing come together, she explored options for what came next.
Billiter began purchasing rolls of colored painters' tape, and piece by piece, students began to create the magical night scene.
“We began planning sections so each student would have a part to work on without overlapping,” Runyon said. “The math was difficult - making 6 sections, so we added an extra section, and I worked on that as well.” Math and other obstacles, like the humidity and student tampering, threatened the project. “The tape kept curling, and we had to press and keep pressing it down each day.”
What started as a STEAM Fest display soon developed into a lasting, more permanent display. The 84 X 138 inch mural was a masterpiece re-created, and Billiter began taking steps to preserve it. A request for approval and funds from the LHS School Board and Superintendent was submitted and approved as students began to prepare the piece for framing.
“We would go out three at a time, each day tweaking it to fix it. It was easier without the time crunch of the STEAM Fest. Now we had time to work on details,” Runyon recalled.
“It required a higher level of attention and detail to be approved for a more permanent display,” Billiter said. Clark County Glass framed the finished work, and students’ names will be displayed next to the mural.
Never expecting such a huge project, Billiter is proud of what her students accomplished in such a short time. “It’s so much better than I thought it would be.”
This masterpiece didn’t take much time, but it is now a timeless piece of artwork in the halls of London High School, all thanks to a great idea, a lot of work, a lot of talent, and some tape.