The David Brearley Middle School Mural Project was made possible through a residency grant from the NJ State Council on the Arts administered by Arts Horizons. The grant was written by David Brearley Middle/High School teacher Janice Marsili and is the fourth of its kind secured by the David Brearley Art Department since 2007.

This $6700 grant covers the cost of a resident artist who works with the art teachers and students over the course of seven months. This year's resident, Julie Deery, is a well-known Philadelphia mosaic artist. Ms. Marsili and Ms. Perez met Julie when they attended a two week summer artist/teacher institute at Rutgers Camden. Ms. Marsili has attended the institute as part of the last four grants' requirements, and Ms. Perez has obtained a scholarship to attend for the last two summers.

Both Ms. Marsili and Ms. Perez saw the construction of a mural as an opportunity to establish a visual identity for the David Brearley Middle School which shares space with the high school, and, at the time of the grant's writing, had recently lost its sports and activities programs. However, the project ultimately achieved much more than the art department had hoped for.

With the help of middle school language arts teachers Nicole Warchol, Cindy Yakovchuk, Michelle Van Steenacker and Lauren Blizzard, every single middle school student composed a six word memoir beginning with the words "I AM". The art teachers, two parent helpers and Acting Grant Supervisor Melissa Ferraris, helped the students make butterfly, flower or leaf tiles that they then stamped with their memoirs. These tiles all became part of the mural, along with hot air balloon tiles created by the middle school teachers and incised with their personal six word memoirs. The mural truly became a wall that talks, giving a voice to the members of the middle school.

The story of the mural details life's journey from childhood through middle school, and includes images of graduation figures passing on to high school at its end. It begins with the Gandhi quote, "Be the Change You Wish to See in the World", then moves on to the next wall with the statement "We Are the Change" and ends with   "We Are the David Brearley Middle School."

The construction of the mural was predominantly the work of the printmaking and ceramics students, the cultural crafts classes, and the eighth grade art cycle classes. However, many others contributed their time and efforts to the project. Teachers, students, administrators, and community members all played a role in the wall's creation.

The materials for the mosaic mural were secured through donations from local businesses as well as by funding generated by the sale of crash glass mosaic frames created by the art classes and marketed by Ms. Kress's business class. The crash glass mosaic technique was taught to the teachers and students by artist Jackie Stack Lagakos who spent two three hour sessions working with the art students. Ms. Lagakos' workshops were made possible through funds raised at last year's art show sale of pottery and prints.

The mural was unveiled to the public at a May 12, 2011 culminating event attended by over 200 students, parents and community members.

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