LEARNING EDGE
Learning Edge is a wall painting/installation commissioned for Edgerton Elementary School, Puyallup, WA. Finished in 2008, the artwork is made up of a combination of letters and figures arranged along both floors of the entry corridor wall. The images are of students (approximately life size) manipulating letters and numbers the same size as themselves. The letters appear to have been removed from the wall behind them, leaving letter shaped windows through which sky, trees and a partial view of Mount Rainier can be seen. The “students” are balanced on ledges and the letters themselves, transporting them from one undefined location to another. Some figures seem to have powers of levitation.
The oversized letters and numerals are inscribed with smaller sized formulas, text and symbols appropriate to that letter. Examples include E= mc2 on the large E, DNA codon sequences on the D. The numbers 3, 5, 8… are part of the Fibonacci series, seen in sunflower patterns and the golden rectangle. Other numbers of mathematical sequence include π (3.14…) carried out to numerous places. Other letters reference Geography, Art, Poetry and Music. The intent was to create an artwork with visual appeal that also alludes to the more complex levels of meaning constructed from these elementary building blocks. Only incidentally do we realize that these letters also spell out the name of the school – E DGE RT O N.
View the in-depth mural process on YouTube: Learning Edge