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By Penni Schaefer

Meadville Tribune

“I’ve never seen anything like it before — I thought I was dreaming!” said Nicholas Brady, 9, of Neason Hill Elementary School. “It was amazing to walk up the steps and see it finished.”

Brady was just one of about 60 Meadville students who met at the Market House on Tuesday to view the mosaic mural that they created.

“We were paired with a partner and we cut the glass, glued pieces of glass and clay onto sections and then grouted them,” Brady said. “But I really couldn’t imagine how it would look when it was finished.”

The 25-foot-long mosaic mural began on one wall on the first landing of the Market House stairwell leading to the Meadville Council on the Arts, wrapped around the inside corner and flowed up the stairs. As the sun shone through the window, bright red pieces of glass sparkled like rubies against textured pieces of handmade tiles. The red seemed to jump off the background of yellow-, chartreuse-, orange- and salmon-colored ceramic.

As the students from Neason Hill and East End elementary schools filed through the stairwell, they “oohed” and “aahhed” and then began searching for their names on the multi-toned blue portion of the mural representing Mill Run.

“I really like how it turned out,” said Shawn Peters, 10, of Neason Hill. “Each of us did such a small piece, but it seems so big now that it is put together.”

A dedication ceremony was held at the Market House to once again unite the elementary school students with the 16 Allegheny College art students who collaborated with the children for the four-month-long project.

Vickie Clark, art teacher at Neason Hill, was actively involved in the project since its inception. Though she saw the mural come to life when it was being assembled on the walls April 18 and 19, it didn’t come together until Tuesday.

“To me it wasn’t done until all of the children saw it,” Clark said. “I had to see the expression on their faces — then it was finished.”

Since its inception, Clark worked closely with local artists Valerie Gilman and Edward deFrece Grout, who played pivotal roles in the creation of the three-dimensional work of art.

After the three met for several brainstorming sessions, Gilman, a visiting assistant professor at Allegheny College, took her students on a field trip along Mill Run.