Client: Washington State Arts Commission

Overview

“Make Your Mark” is a public art mosaic produced in collaboration with the students and staff of Alderwood Middle School (AMS) in Lynnwood, WA. It is composed of over 12,000 wooden tiles, the majority of which have been hand-illustrated with archival ink pens by members of AMS. The tiles that were not hand-illustrated were manufactured using prints and stamps generated from the illustrations.

Goals

Community involvement, civic pride, and sustainability were three overarching goals during the process of creating "Make Your Mark." The conception of the piece as a process-based project involved the members of AMS creating the tiles that would be arranged into an image emphasizing global citizenship and installed in their school in perpetuity.

Process

The legal, economic, and logistical aspects of this commission were undertaken in collaboration with the Washington State Arts Commission. The students and staff of AMS were instrumental in generating every single one of over 12,000 tiles that constitute the final piece.

Additional Information

From its inception, this project was envisioned as a process-based collaboration with the population of Alderwood Middle School in 2017, who created the thousands of illustrations that compose "Make Your Mark." It was quite a risk, an even greater reward, and no small surprise to see the culmination of the process. I am most grateful to the members of AMS and the Washington State Arts Commission.