Home is where the heART is
In 2022, Mac & Allyse were engaged by the Cuyahoga Falls School District (CFSD) to serve as resident teaching artists for a year-long interdisciplinary art project that would culminate in the production of community-informed and student-designed mural for the main cafeteria space in the district’s new 6-12 Campus.
The Home is where the heART is project was the brainchild of Jennifer Schulman, the high school’s Public Art & Design teacher, and was funded by 4 separate grants from the Ohio Arts Council and GAR Foundation. As teaching artists, Mac and Allyse were paid for 50 days in the high school (Mac) and 25 days in each of the middle schools (Allyse). The project was split into three phases:
We kicked off the project with staff and students, explaining why research matters, the difference between qualitative vs. quantitative research, understanding bias, and sharing best practices from our years of working in branding and communications. We then had students develop and test their own questions to see what might elicit the most useful feedback to inform and inspire the mural. These learnings guided the design and creation of public survey cards which we took into the field with students during Cuyahoga Falls’ Octoberfest and Halloween celebration.
More than 1,200 surveys were collected, 68% of which were from people 18 years old or younger, and 75% of which were from residents of Cuyahoga Falls. Every survey was scanned, and the data was transcribed into a sortable and searchable spreadsheet to distill key insights. We would later learn that the breadth and efficacy of this research exceeded everything that had previously been conducted in the city.
As we continued to collect research, Mac and Allyse led field trips for the middle school and high school students in downtown Cuyahoga Falls, providing students with an opportunity to learn more about the city’s history and to compile images that they could use to bring exploratory mural concepts to life. Students across the entire K-12 district began to create new artwork inspired by our data and their experience. More than 500 unique works of art were created, photographed, and used as inspiration to further develop the Public Art & Design class’ mural concepts.
As the students critiqued and discussed their mural concepts, we also began to develop temporary public art installations to share the Home is where the heART is project with the public during 2023’s All-City ArtWalk in downtown Cuyahoga Falls. This phase of work included developing concepts for installation, putting together a proposal to share with the Cuyahoga Falls Public Art Board, and presenting our proposal to them to secure permission to proceed. The student’s proposal was approved, and Art x Love worked with City officials and local vendors to coordinate all aspects of production and installation.
The temporary art installations included a history walk with wayfinding signage, a sculptural window display celebrating Cuyahoga Falls landmarks through the years, an interactive dollhouse, and an interactive threshold that people could step through to reveal the final concept for the new 6-12 Campus mural.
We kicked off the Design phase by sharing all of our findings and creative work thus far, and then tasked the Graphic Design students to refine their preferred concepts and design digital assets that would further bring these concepts to life. Mac worked side-by-side with the students to teach them how to use Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Each refined their select design elements, which Mac later scaled up in our studio for finalization and eventual production as a vinyl wall print.
With construction of the 6-12 Campus nearing completion, we are excited and ready for the installation of the Home is where the heART is mural for all to see. In the meantime, you can learn more about the project and get a deeper look behind the scenes on the Home is where the heART is website.
