In 2008 I began working with local schools to create community art projects that I call Legacy Projects—permanent works of public art mosaics created by students as gifts to the generations that follow.
I chose to work on these projects because I often toyed with the idea of being a public school art teacher. But I knew I would quickly become frustrated with the structure of a traditional school system. These projects satisfied that desire. The idea began with a simple goal: to introduce the next generation to the possibilities of community and public art mosaics—to plant a few seeds.
Students create these large-scale, permanent artworks and present them as a gift to the students who come after them. Each project is a collaboration between school administrators, PTAs and PTOs, art teachers, and, most importantly, the students themselves.
The Students Are the Artists
The foundation of every project is my respect for the students, whatever their age.
I listen to them. I ask questions. And as time allows, I involve them as deeply as possible in the creative process. Of course, time is always a challenge. School schedules are packed, and finding meaningful time for an art project can be difficult. So we take the time we can. We engage deeply and with intention.
And I am continually amazed by what happens when children are given a creative prompt and the freedom to interpret it in their own way. Critical thinking, teamwork, problem-solving, and a sense of purpose happen—even with the youngest students.
These are their creations. Their ideas. Their legacy.
Often, I worked with fifth- or sixth-grade students who would move on to another school the following year. Knowing that they left behind a permanent piece of artwork they helped create made these projects even more meaningful.
“If I Were an Animal”
It is difficult to say which project is my favorite. Each one has its own story and personality, and I’d like to share a few.
“If I Were an Animal” was an early project at Hunters Woods Elementary School in Reston, Virginia. It was a hand-built ceramic installation that began with a simple question:
If you could be any animal, what would you be?
The students created sketches ahead of time and talked about why they had chosen their particular animal. Then each student received a raw clay tile and a blob of clay and created a small bas-relief sculpture.
After the pieces were fired in the kiln, we applied a natural oxide patina that gave the clay an aged, almost antique appearance.
I assembled the finished pieces with brightly colored ceramic tiles into a series of mosaic “quilts.” To this day, the panels grace the front entrance of the school.
The Cycle of…Bacon?
Another project that amazed me with the places students’ imaginations could go was created with fifth graders at Ravensworth Elementary School in Fairfax, Virginia.
We created three large ceramic mosaic panels, each approximately 5 feet by 3 feet, based on the theme “Cycles.”
Students worked in teams of three. Each team was given four tiles to design, and those four tiles had to work together as a complete composition.
Honestly, when the art teacher first said “cycles,” I paused. In my mind, I may have rolled my eyes a little.
Okay…let’s see where this takes us.
The students began drawing, always working together. And my goodness, did they teach me something. Of course there was the life cycle of a flower. But countless other “cycles” that never crossed my mind! The life cycle of bacon. The cycle of a school art teacher’s year. And so many other wonderfully unexpected stories.
What I loved most was watching students figure out how to turn a science lesson into something visual, personal, and collaborative. A terrific cross-curricular example.
A School with a Special Vision
After about ten years of school projects, I simply had too much on my plate to dedicate the time these Legacy Projects required. I stopped working with schools.
Then, in 2023, I received a note from a teacher followed by a very late-in-the-school-year phone call.
She needed to get a public artwork completed.
Could I possibly help?
The school had a very small budget and a very tight timeline. I took a deep breath and checked out the school website. My curiosity was piqued because this place was indeed special.
Alice W. Fleet Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, opened in 2019 and became the second Net Zero Energy school in Arlington County, with a focus on sustainability and environmental conservation. The school serves students from pre-K through fifth grade.
But what really caught my attention was the school’s vision:
Embraced for who we are, empowered to learn, and engaged to better our world.
That was something I wanted to be part of.
Embrace Who We Are
Our first project together drew on the first part of the school’s vision: Embrace Who We Are. Despite the short timeline and limited budget, we created a wonderful artwork inspired by video games and digitized imagery.
Each child was asked to interpret something that was uniquely them.
The responses were wonderfully diverse.
Soccer. Faith and family. Camping. Making art. Their homeland.
Every student created a small mosaic square using 8mm glass tiles made from recycled windows. Individually, the finished pieces were small. Together, they became something much larger: a portrait of the school community itself.
Empower
The following year brought a new group of students and a new theme: Empower.
I returned to the “If I Were an Animal” technique, but this time the prompt was: What is your superpower?
The answers were once again revealing.
Love. Friendship. Reading. Religion.
The installation was much larger. We had more time, a budget, and the opportunity to really dive into the process.
It was fun. It was fulfilling.
And the students reminded me again that children often understand what matters more clearly than we give them credit for.
Engaged to Better Our World
The most recent project grew out of the third part of Fleet Elementary’s vision: Engaged to Better Our World.
This project was a wonderful collaboration between the students, their art teacher, Jenn Mercado, and me. This was my third year working with Jenn, and she deserves a great deal of credit for her students’ success. She helped develop all the projects, made the classroom time happen, worked with the students outside of class time, and figured out how to turn ambitious ideas into finished public artworks.
Our inspiration for the latest project came from an Irish tradition involving the Hawthorn Tree, sometimes called a Wishing Tree, where people leave wishes and hopes for the future.
Jenn had the students create a word bank of words reflecting the world they want to live in.
Then the real work began. We had a lot of questions to answer. How could we translate those words into a dimensional artwork readable “up high”? The installation is in a space 12 feet up! What should the “ribbons” look like? What color should the clay be? How thick should they be? Sizes? How many would we need to create something large enough to have an impact?
And, perhaps most importantly, could we capture the magic and generosity of a Wishing Tree?
Jenn and I experimented with colors, ribbon sizes, textures, and construction methods. There was a lot of trial and error. That is one of my favorite parts of making art—figuring out what works by making things, testing them, and sometimes discovering that the original idea needs to change.
We eventually settled on 1/8-inch-thick clay ribbons, approximately six inches long. During our clay sessions, the students created the ribbons, adding words, textures, and patterns that represented their hopes for making the world a better place.
After many experiments, Jenn and I decided on brilliant ultramarine blue with gold accents. The finished installation is stunning. But what makes it powerful isn’t simply the color, the scale, or the craftsmanship. It is what the children chose to say.
What Children Wish For
As I assembled the final artwork, I began to appreciate how deeply meaningful this project had become.
The children who created these pieces spent their earliest years of school living through the COVID pandemic. They have never known a world without computers and cell phones, video games, and active-shooter drills. The world is confusing.
Their parents work stressful jobs—from doctors and lawyers to restaurant workers and house cleaners. Children are growing up in a world filled with uncertainty and anxiety.
And yet, when we asked these children what they wished for the future, their answers were remarkably simple and positive.
Peace. Courage. Respect. Inclusion. Friendship. Kindness. Hope. Love.
Those beautiful, uncomplicated words came from the mouths—and hands—of children.
Honestly, I don’t know that I want to top that.
Maybe this is a good place to stop. But, no surprise, I have a few more comments!
A Few Words About Art Teachers
All teachers are heroes in my mind. Primary school teachers are raising the next generation. We owe all teachers a debt of gratitude; it is a calling.
And art teachers are a special breed.
They provide a sacred and safe space where some children truly thrive. They give students opportunities to experiment, make mistakes, think critically, solve problems, collaborate, and express ideas that might otherwise remain hidden.
These aren’t just art skills. They are life skills.
Every one of my Legacy Projects was made possible because an art teacher was willing to get on board. They understood the value of legacy and community. They did the heavy lifting. They navigated school schedules, found classroom time, organized students, communicated with administrators, and helped make the impossible possible.
Jenn Mercado was an essential partner in the Alice West Fleet projects, and I am grateful for her commitment, creativity, and willingness to see the projects through from the first idea to the final installation.
After all these years, I may take another break from school projects. I have always believed in leaving a situation when you are at the top of your game, and historically, that philosophy has served me well.
But assembling this particular artwork reminded me why I was drawn to these projects in the first place.
A permanent work of public art can be more than something beautiful on a wall. It can be a record of a community, a lesson in collaboration, and a gift from one generation of students to the next.
It can give children a voice.
It can make their ideas visible.
And, hopefully, it can plant a few seeds.
That, to me, is the real legacy.
Acknowledgments
A special thanks to all of the art teachers I have had the privilege of working with over the years, with special acknowledgment to Norma Morris, Art Specialist at Hunters Woods Elementary School, now happily retired, who gave me the first of many wonderful Legacy Project opportunities; Erin Fortenberry at Ravensworth Elementary School, whose “Cycles” prompt gave me one of the most joyful lessons in appreciating the unbridled imagination of children; and Jenn Mercado at Alice W. Fleet Elementary School, for her dedication and commitment to her school, her students, and for making the world a kinder a creative space for those in her orbit.
You can see more images about Legacy projects in our gallery. We also have a few shorts on the Make it Mosaics YouTube Channel. 2026 Engaged to Better Our World and 2024 Embrace.