Anne Stevens | Digital Drawings | home
Mural Statement College of Education, University of Washington
article in University Week || Artwork Details.

Artists Statement

There is an idea in yoga of the ‘core’, which describes the deep center of the body and the spirit. The core is the place where strength and stability originate. A strong core allows the rest of the body to challenge musculature, blood, the mind and the sense of balance as the limbs expand out from the center.

This sense of a core was central to the development of these murals. The terms social justice and diversity label the deeper vulnerabilities of our core strength as a society. I understand the mission of Educators for Social Justice as one that they will carry forward their entire lives. Because of the duration of that journey, I wanted the murals to reflect their experience here in the College of Education, where they have space and time to consider their choices and explore their stances to their chosen field.

Murals are designed for the people who live with them everyday, and these are no exception. The quotations selected by Educators for Social Justice frame two of the stark realities of education in inspiring ways. The south mural addresses dualities in the educator’s experience. The Malcolm X quotation suggests the humility of educating and being educated on a daily basis. The students initiated the imagery, which layers in the act of reflecting on one’s work and paths, both in the university and in practice. The idea of acting and reflecting (and the dual nature of that relationship) is a deep part of all social interaction.

The north mural addresses the ways in which we learn informally. As we reviewed imagery, we considered imagery of kids in schools and the urban context, but it felt as if we were layering more buildings inside this building. Instead, we brought the light of the outdoors in to point to the time we spend growing and working out in the world. The word driving the development of the painting for me was ‘listening’. I thought of all the ways that we listen: to students, to our bodies, to literature and music and nature, to each other; and I tried to represent those listening moments in the cluster of people gathered together under a tree.

Take a deep breath, and consider your core strength. Can you feel it? Can you rely on it to support you through difficult times? Can you extend yourself towards others and challenge your stability? This is the awareness we want to build in ourselves, in our children, and in our social worlds.