Two Savannah artists hope to inspire young learners with mural at Garden City Elementary

“Principal Dozier had this vision that it would say ‘Welcome to the Garden’ and would be filled with beautiful flowers, plants and bright colors. The more we talked, the more I was convinced that we had to make it happen before school started.”

After a year in which students’ lives were filled with uncertainty and upheaval, Dozier felt that it was important to start the new semester not only with the kind of uplifting energy that such a project can provide, but also with an emphasis on creativity.

“Research shows that arts integration improves student performance,” noted Dozier of her thinking behind adding the mural to the entryway.

“Arts integration promotes critical thinking, helps with the development of fine motor skills, improves language by extending students vocabulary, helps students build social skills, and strengthens students' understanding of concepts in content areas such as reading, math, social studies, and science. Art can be used as a tool to accelerate student learning.”

Loop It Up is well known in the local community for being an organization that looks to have a positive impact on children through the use of creativity, and, through their years of working on such projects, they’ve developed a strong connection with a number of local artists. Such was the case with Allison Hall and Juliana Lupacchino, studio mates who have both long been on Lieberman’s radar.

“When Principal Dozier shared her idea for the ‘Welcome to the Garden’ mural with me, I immediately thought of Jules and Alison… I felt like the style of their work would be a great fit for this project,” she said. “They are such a wonderful creative team, and amazing kind and generous people.”

For Hall, an experienced muralist who does work through her company Small Creative, the Garden City Elementary School project was an opportunity to express her appreciation for the support that she’s received during the first five years of her business.

“Juliana and I have been dreaming about painting a mural in an elementary school for a while now,” noted Hall. “The city of Savannah has been so good to us as we’ve built our creative careers, and we thought it would be special to start pouring back into the community more. We both have our own painting styles, and we were curious how they would look if we painted something together.”

The two artistically dissimilar muralists ended up being the perfect fit for Dozier, who was looking for guidance on where to go from her initial inspiration.

“I didn’t have a particular design in mind,” she recalled. “Juliana and Allison asked me questions about Garden City Elementary and the direction we were going in, as we stood in front of the then white space. I gave them a disclaimer, stating, ‘I am not an artist.’

“[They] were able to take our conversation and turn it into the statement piece you see now."

Although plenty of uncertainty remains for the recently begun school year, one thing is clear: Visitors to this particular elementary school can expect a warm welcome courtesy of Loop It Up, Principal Kimberly Dozier, and a couple of local artists.

“We are so excited for the joy that the ‘Welcome to the Garden’ mural will bring to students, families, teachers and staff at Garden City,” Lieberman said. "And we know that it will pave the way for many more beautiful collaborations at this wonderful school.”

Allison Hall can be found at alligracehall.com and on Instagram @smallcreative. Juliana Lupacchino is on the web at Julujulu.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Two Savannah artists hope to inspire young learners with mural at Garden City Elementary