During the first few weeks of this school year, Mrs. Brown’s photography class and the studio art class have been working on a huge mosaic piece for the front of the high school building. When students and visitors approach the school they will see the beautiful, large mosaic art piece made of glass and ceramics that will represent our graduating class of 2014. During the past few weeks, the art teacher, Mrs. Brown, has partnered up with an artist, Barbara Gallazo, from the  Garrison Art Center, who owns Gallery 66 in Cold Spring, NY. Barbara is a glass and mixed media artist. She also promotes the work of pre-college artists to help them gain experience and confidence. When Barbara was approached to work with our school to create this mosaic, she was prepared because she had worked with younger artists before. Mrs. Brown received a grant to fund this project, which was approved by the Board of Education. In the photo, you see Mrs. Brown, Barbara Gallazo, and Barabara Smith-Gioia

While working on the art piece, there was a ton of cutting glass, sizing the pieces and using the right colors and using your imagination to create a beautiful pattern. Barbara Gallazo says that the transparency of glass symbolizes to her the strength and the fragility of life. We students were divided in groups and each group received a circle in which to create an image representing challenges and achievements. Together all the compositions represent the struggles this class has had over the past four years. this project to me was more than molding glass pieces together to make a composition. The meaning behind the glass encourages everyone who sees the mosaic to explore the depth and fragile inner beauty that exist in and around each of us.