Location of the mural – Ellen Fishman-Johnson
After being given the go ahead by Mural Arts to begin working on the project, we needed to find a wall to project on to. We knew we had to find a wall that was in the vicinity of the Philadelphia Convention Center and Frank Aloise, the Director of Finance at Springside School suggested we go look (of course it had to happen during lunch so we could eat at the Reading Terminal Market). We parked right next to the Convention Center and the great wall of the Fabric Workshop and Museum at 12th and Arch immediately struck us both. This is a street that is used by conventioneers to get to most major hotels. There is parking lot beside the wall, which was really important in order to have enough space to project from. We began discussions with Fabric Workshop about using this perfect location.
Beginnings – Ellen Fishman-Johnson
The idea for this project was hatched when I was at the International Society for Technology in Education conference last year in Denver. As an educator of the Arts and an active composer and video artist, I felt that students could really wow this immense audience of interested educators. I began to wonder what that would look like. I have been fascinated with the idea of doing a large-scale projection and scoured the Internet for examples thinking that this would be something we could attempt. At the beginning of the school year this idea was put on the back burner as I took on new responsibilities at Springside. However, somehow Jane Golden, the visionary leader of the Mural Arts Project, was visiting Springside School one morning and I was introduced to her as part of a tour of the school. As she was leaving, I asked her if she ever thought of doing a large-scale projection and her eyes lit up! She had thought of it and we began a series of conversations about collaboration between Mural Arts students and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy students.
