Apollo-Ridge students' mosaic artwork will enhance downtown Apollo

Apollo-Ridge students are getting a chance to mix a history lesson with an art project as they prepare mosaic murals that will be displayed in downtown Apollo.

The project is a collaboration between Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Artspath program and the Apollo-Ridge Education Foundation to bring an artist in residence to the district.

“We are trying to do more community engagement — trying to get the kids into town and the town into the schools,” said Cristine Kostiuk, president of the education foundation. “We thought this would be a really great project.”

Local artist Laura Jean McLaughlin has been working with seventh- and eighth-grade students for the past few weeks on seven mosaic murals made of tile depicting historic people and places of Apollo.

Included on the mosaics are Apollo police Officer Leonard Miller, who was killed in the line of duty in 1980, and journalist Nellie Bly, who spent part of her childhood in Apollo, along with more general depictions of service men and women and local industry.

“These students are able to leave behind a history of the Apollo area,” McLaughlin said.

The pieces are based on student drawings. Students are cutting black tiles to outline the drawings and will fill them in with colored tiles.

McLaughlin said the project provides a unique opportunity for students to work with each other.

“Not only do they come up with the imagery and the ideas together but they're actually creating the artwork together,” she said. “It becomes an experience — the artwork itself is an experience.”

Eighth-grade student Mackenzie Delp, 13, said she likes knowing her work will be around for years to come.

“When we get older and we're driving through Apollo, we can point at it and be like ‘I helped make that,' ” she said. “Something that I worked on is now part of the town.”

Seventh-grader Spencer Baker, 12, said his favorite part of the project is gluing the tiles to the concrete. He's happy with the way the mosaic is turning out.

“I like it. It's pretty nice,” he said.

The project isn't just a learning opportunity for students. Art teacher Matt Ferguson said he's never done an art piece like this before.

“This is definitely a different material, different technique, different artist they're working with,” he said. “(It's) a whole different set of experiences they wouldn't normally have gotten had we not done this.”

Eighth-grader Nicholas Clawson, 13, said he's excited to see the finished project. They are expected to be finished and installed in the spring.

“It's a very slow process,” he said. “It'll look beautiful when it's done.”

Emily Balser is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4680, emilybalser@tribweb.com or on Twitter @emilybalser.