Michael, Kalyn and Hayden Hawkins. Michael did the grouting work; photo courtesy of the San Manuel Miner.
Mountain Vista Principal Nannette Soule, Oracle School District Superintendent Dennis Blauser, Oracle School Board Member Lynda Lyon, Oracle School Board Member Steve Brown and SaddleBrooke Pottery Club Spokesperson Harriet Hason; photo courtesy of the San Manuel Miner.
John Hernandez, San Manuel Miner
On Thursday, May 12, 2016, a number of people gathered at Mt. Vista School in Oracle for the unveiling of the new mural which is located at the entrance of the school. The mural, a desert scene incorporating the desert flora and fauna as well as the topography of the Oracle area, was created and donated by the SaddleBrooke Pottery Club. The centerpiece of the mural was a picture of a cougar (mountain lion), the Mt. Vista School mascot.
The mural was unveiled at the ceremony by Principal Nannette Soule and Kalyn Hawkins, Mt. Vista student and daughter of Michael Hawkins who donated his time and materials to grout the mural tiles. Harriet Hason, an artist and member of the SaddleBrooke Pottery Club, then spoke and told the audience how the mural came to be.
Harriet said that the idea for the mural originated with Mt. Vista School Board and Pottery Club member Jeri Taylor. She thanked Jeri “for beginning what was to become an exciting artistic adventure for a team of ceramic artists.”
Harriet explained the creative process for the project and spoke about all the work involved (over 300 hours) and how the team learned a lot from the project.
“It started out as a way to give something wonderful to the Mt. Vista students and school community. We were educators supporting students,” Harriet said. “But wait, it became something more to us. We realized that we were a team of people who became students of our own project. We were not only the artists on the project, but also the students. Life’s learning at its best.”
Some of the goals the SaddleBrooke Pottery Club hopes for:
* That students will walk by this mural and stop to appreciate the beauty that surrounds them.
* That teachers and students will sit under these trees and be motivated to talk and write and draw about this mural and what it represents.
* That all will appreciate the mural as a work of art and know how important the visual arts are to a healthy society.
* That all will know that members of the SaddleBrooke Pottery community care about the Mt. Vista students and the Oracle community.
Harriet introduced the public art project team: Janice Waller, Jan Stebins, Jeanne Rudolf, Ellen Perkins, Esther Olson and Kathy Thompson. She then thanked Jerry Dohms, Marlin Waller, Dan Stebins, Jeri Taylor, Superintendent Dennis Blauser, Principal Nannette Soule, Director of Operations Ron Small, Claude Huffman, Terry Ellis, Frank Gallardo, Mike Henderson and Mike Hawkins.
Thank you, SaddleBrooke Pottery Club, for this beautiful addition to Mt. Vista School and the Oracle Community.