Merenda Cecelia, a Richmond artist who specializes in ceramic and mosaic work, is passionate about collaborative artwork. In April, she spent several days at Steward with students in grades K-12, guiding them as they created clay tiles that will adorn the Bryan Innovation Lab community gardens. Upper School Visual Arts Teacher Kristin Snellings organized the project. 

“We invited Ms. Cecelia to campus several months ago, and she was very taken with the gardens around the Bryan Innovation Lab,” shared Ms. Snellings. “We decided to work together to create something that would fit into this beautiful space.”

  

Ms. Cecelia worked alongside students in the art classrooms as they made small mosaic tiles depicting symbols of the seasons, sports-related imagery, or nature scenes. Ms. Cecelia showed students samples of mosaics and talked about the artists who inspired her, including Antoni Gaudi and Isaiah Zagar. She also demonstrated clay techniques, such as texture, stamping, and glazing. Middle and Upper School students created border tiles and glazed and fired all of the tiles.

Four large tiles that indicate directions and seasons (north/winter, south/summer, east/spring, west/fall) will be added to the garden in the fall, with the smaller tiles installed along the garden beds. 

The tile that Penn Arnold ’27 made features a dark brown beetle against a light green background. 

“It was inspired by the charcoal drawings of insects that were available as reference,” said Penn. “I was given a time limit of an hour for this project, which meant that I didn't have time to overthink every decision made … that was refreshing.” 

It’s fitting that Ms. Cecelia was invited to partner with Steward, where students are encouraged to innovate and explore creativity through hands-on learning in all disciplines.

“An artist-in-residence enriches the school experience for everyone involved,” said Ms. Snellings. “It connects students of all ages, creating community. It was so much fun to see mixed-division classes working with Ms. Cecelia and see older students helping younger Spartans.”