{"id":3239,"date":"2016-03-15T15:29:35","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T20:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/for-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=3239"},"modified":"2016-03-15T15:30:13","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T20:30:13","slug":"picturing-the-story-uw-stout-art-professor-depicts-childrens-book-characters-in-mural-at-elementary-school","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/picturing-the-story-uw-stout-art-professor-depicts-childrens-book-characters-in-mural-at-elementary-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Picturing the story: UW-Stout art professor depicts children\u2019s book characters in mural at elementary school"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tami<\/a>
Tami Weiss painted a large mural at River Heights Elementary School to recognize the work of illustrators, the artists of children’s books. The mural has also inspired children to read. See video at www.leadertelegram.com<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MENOMONIE \u2014 If pictures are worth 1,000 words, a wall at River Heights Elementary School has plenty to say.<\/p>\n

The mural created by a parent and art teacher depicts characters from about 32 different books and 30 illustrators.<\/p>\n

Tami Weiss, who is the executive director of Arts Integration Menomonie, or AIM, and teaches art at UW-Stout, took about four or five weeks to complete the roughly 60-by-10-foot mural. She completed the project last week.<\/p>\n

With characters from classic books like Dr. Seuss\u2019s \u201cGreen Eggs and Ham\u201d and Maurice Sendak\u2019s\u00a0\u201cWhere the Wild Things Are,\u201d the mural stretches across one wall of the library and media center, depicting children\u2019s books characters in the four seasons.<\/p>\n

The mural originally was meant to be smaller, but gradually more children\u2019s book characters were added to fill the wall, Weiss said. She added some more contemporary books, including the Harry Potter series.<\/p>\n

Katelian Bossany, 9, a third-grader at the school, said that while Weiss was working on the mural she noticed there was no Charlotte the spider from \u201cCharlotte\u2019s Web.\u201d Yet, Wilbur the pig and Fern were there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that was a big mistake,\u201d Bossany said.<\/p>\n

Weiss then added the famous spider to the mural.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks beautiful,\u201d Bossany said. \u201cIt looks just like the book.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enzo Parent, 9, also a third-grader at the school, said he likes how the seasons flow along the mural.<\/p>\n

In one corner is \u201cSplat the Cat\u201d wearing a River Heights Elementary School T-shirt and holding crayons.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt represents at River Heights we have fun and we learn,\u201d Parent said. \u201cI also like the Waldo. Just like the books you have to find him,\u201d he added referring to the popular \u201cWhere\u2019s Waldo\u201d books.<\/p>\n

River Heights Elementary School principal Peg Kolden said the mural helps students want to read.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren identify the characters, and they talk about the characters, and it develops interest in books,\u201d Kolden said. \u201cReading leads to success in all academic areas. Readers are leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also creates a welcoming climate in here,\u201d Kolden said, gesturing around the library. \u201cIt makes this a place people want to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two of Weiss\u2019 three children go to River Heights Elementary School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI first and foremost did this as a mom who really likes the school my kids go to,\u201d Weiss said, who donated her time. \u201cIt is a way to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mural is painted from satin finish latex paint.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surface of the mural is most challenging,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cIt is cement block and very porous. I found myself painting with jabs to get it into the holes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mural is also integral to the mission of AIM, an organization developed to enhance teacher confidence and well-being and to improve early career teachers\u2019 retention. It is a cooperative program of UW-Stout, the Mabel Tainter and the Menomonie school district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mural obviously encompasses everything we believe in \u2014 the importance of art in education,\u201d Weiss said of AIM.<\/p>\n

A grand opening featuring a dedication of about 40 books bought by AIM for the elementary school is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Family Night April 28. The books will have a tag showing that they are donated for the River Heights Elementary School teachers, and each book will have a teacher\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Weiss has reached out to all the book illustrators so they know about the mural.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of the arts the illustrators of these books is kind of the unsung hero,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cIt was the illustrators who brought these books to life. This was my way to honor the illustrators.\u201d<\/p>\n

By Pamela Powers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram<\/p>\n

Reprinted with permission
\nThis story appeared in the Feb. 24 Leader-Telegram<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MENOMONIE \u2014 If pictures are worth 1,000 words, a wall at River Heights Elementary School has plenty to say. The mural created by a parent and art teacher depicts characters from about 32 different books and 30 illustrators. Tami Weiss, who is the executive director of Arts Integration Menomonie, or AIM, and teaches art at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[90],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-3239","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stout"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/3239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=3239"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=3239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}