With Grade 6 students we painted the mural “Speak Beyond Borders” on the walls of the language classrooms, a large globe of conversing faces takes shape, symbolizing the encounter between cultures and the importance of communication and understanding. The quotes chosen by the students—”One’s destination is never a place but always a new way of seeing things” and “Eine andere Sprache zu sprechen ist wie eine zweite Seele zu haben”—describe the value of diversity and the richness of shared knowledge. A work open to the world, born from a workshop based on “learning by doing,” in which elementary and middle school students experimented with artistic techniques, collaboration, and a sense of community.
Here is the video:
The group work was oranized in 2 steps: a design phase and an execution phase. In the first part, the students were introduced to the mural design and the challenges of enlarging the image. This highlighted the importance of having a precise plan, essential for creating an effective work.
The design phase involved the creation of a digital sketch: using the iPad with the Sketchbook program, it was possible to render the finished work, calculate the proportions, evaluate the visual impact, and experiment with the relationships between colors and the environment. This tool allowed us to determine which color combinations would be most effective.
Two sketches were created for the mural’s subject, and it was decided to depict a large world where the continents are composed of profiles of people talking to each other.
The most challenging part was enlarging the image on the wall, using the squaring technique: partly by the teacher, partly by the students (in the lower areas). Once the drawing was traced with yellow and orange crayons, the students painted the different areas following the original sketch with acrylic paint.
The importance of organization was immediately evident: working in large numbers on the same surface, the students had to agree on the distribution of tasks, the use of colors, and the management of space. Each student worked on a section of the mural (high, low, or intermediate), trying to collaborate without getting in each other’s way. This fostered autonomy and the development of a sense of collaboration to achieve a common goal.
During the first part of the day, after reviewing the project, the students moved on to drawing on the wall and applying the first colors. In the afternoon, the work continued intensely and satisfyingly: all the students completed their part with precision and commitment.
An interesting moment was the collective revision of the work. During this phase, through variations on the design and digital rendering, we evaluated various options together. It emerged that the background of the mural was rather empty, as the white wall had been left in its original color.
To give the drawing greater depth and dimension, we decided to add a large galaxy behind the planet. This choice both enhanced the colors of the landscape and highlighted the round shape in the foreground with a dark mass. The students enthusiastically participated in this revision and completion phase, working tirelessly to improve the work and achieving a result that gave everyone great satisfaction.
The mural was completed with two quotes in German and English. For their research, the students used the computer to search for quotes from famous figures—writers, poets, and scientists—related to the themes of travel, communication between people, and knowledge of different languages and cultures.
The students chose an English quote by Henry Miller: “One’s destination is never a place but always a new way of seeing things” and a German quote attributed to Charlemagne: “Eine andere Sprache zu sprechen ist wie eine zweite Seele zu haben” (“Speaking another language is like having a second soul”).
The final step of the project was to write the phrases along the black line running across the mural, thus reiterating the common thread that decorates the school walls in other dedicated areas.
In this project, the students applied their skills with a sense of responsibility and passion. The final result was immensely satisfying, both for the quality of the work and for the knowledge of having decorated a large wall in their school, leaving a tangible and lasting mark, created with their own hands.
The most interesting aspect of the group effort was the opportunity to see their work emerge and grow through everyone’s contribution: an experience that made them understand that, alone, it would not have been possible to achieve such a result, while collaboration made the realization of this great collective work a reality.