Portland-Suzhou Bridges Mural
We celebrate with a “Big Thanks!” and share this beautiful mural created by the Woodstock Elementary third graders, from both the Mandarin Immersion Program and the Neighborhood Program, under the guidance of Cooperating Artist - Sarah Ferguson.
Woodstock Elementary third graders, from the Mandarin Immersion Program and the Neighborhood Program, all collaborated and contributed to the Portland-Suzhou Bridges Mural.
Sister Cities, Portland and Suzhou, are both known for their beautiful bridges and gardens. In the Portland-Suzhou Bridges Mural, the bridges span cities, time, and culture.
The concept for this mural originated with the students and teachers. Each of the third grade classes identified a theme to develop for the mural. Liduan Laoshi’s class worked on bridges; Ms. Hillenberg’s class chose animals; Ms. McAdam’s class explored modes of transportation; and Ms. Engstrom’s class contributed the landscape and dwellings.
Students started with painting papers, while learning about collages. They then used the papers to cut into shapes and designs, glueing the parts together to create the individual representations for the mural.
The student work was then composed on a background panel to unify the themes of the mural.
To complete the project, students revisited their collective work to see how the different parts of the two cities come together to create a unifying work of art.
Suzhou Bridges Represented:
Xinshi
Precious Belt
Sutong Yangtze
Portland Bridges Represented:
Freemont
Burnside
Hawthorne
Classes of Contributing Young Artists:
Liduan Laoshi
- Mandarin Immersion Teacher
Ms. Hillenberg
- English Immersion Teacher
Ms. McAdams
- Neighborhood Teacher
Ms. Engstrom
- Neighborhood Teacher
