From Mountains to Sea
CWC: From Mountains to Sea is a chain link mural project created for the Citizens of the World Hollywood Elementary School.
As part of Lyric’s pro-bono design work, Siobhán Burke collaborated with artist Yana D. Schwartz to create a warm and welcoming environment at the main entrance of CWC.
A 60-foot long chain link fence became an opportunity to create a vibrant vertical “welcome mat” for the students, building a sense of dignity, respect, and positivity as they entered school grounds each day.
As members of the parent community, Siobhán and Yana engaged with the school principal to pursue a number of beautification projects that fit three objectives:
To work with students and art teachers through the arts curriculum in providing input on beautification concepts.
To create built projects that serve as a model for resilience.
To reflect on the meaning of “community” and celebrate the nature of our Los Angeles environment in all design processes.
Students reflected on their favorite things about Los Angeles through a pictorial questionnaire. Hundreds of responses were received with the recurring themes of LA’s awe inspiring landscape. Hiking up to the Griffith Observatory, the seasonal blooms, the vibrant sunrises and sunsets, and beach excursions became the key inspirations for “From Mountains to Sea”. Embracing the school ethos of multiculturalism, the form was inspired by historical textile art, using weaving and crochet techniques to create colorful imagery with textured ropes. Over the course of 5 days, volunteers learned to crochet rope, weave ribbon and use zip ties. The entire project came to fruition in nine months.
