School of Sharks

One year ago, summer of 2023, I worked on painting a ceiling mural at the new South Portland Middle School.  Chris Miller, a polymath maker, very good friend and father of two young boys had received a commission and needed help.  I gladly answered the call.  

His design originally called for a pod of humpback whales in silhouette painted on the ceiling of the school’s central corridor.  The Principal held a vote and the students selected “Sharks” as the new school’s mascot, and so a last minute change was called for.  Chris complied and the whales became sharks, swimming overhead.  http://npdworkshop.com/pod-cosmos

In designing the mural he envisioned the school of sharks swimming in outer space, then he mapped the sharks onto the central corridor ceiling, from the point of view of a fifth grade child, standing at the school’s entrance.  His goal was to capture awe and wonder, with distortion a part of the design.  The technique he used is called anamorphosis, which he described as follows:

“Anamorphosis is an optical illusion by which an image appears distorted but becomes clear when viewed from a key viewpoint, unique angle or through a particular lens. I want my kids and their classmates to learn to listen to people who have different perspectives and espouse different beliefs. I want them to be curious, open and inquiring- to strive for agreement and consensus through informed discussion.

“The mural’s key image will appear completely clear and undistorted from just one point of view. Someone just under five feet tall would see it, if they stood just inside the corridor with their back to the wall between the two lobby doors. From other viewpoints and as students travel down the length of the corridor, these silhouettes will appear increasingly stretched, and distorted to varying degrees of abstraction.

“The root of the word cosmopolitanism is Cosmos. It’s an ancient Greek concept of the universe as a well-ordered system. It presumes that all things can in theory, be made clear. I want my kids and their classmates to be relentless in search of both questions and answers. I also want them to cultivate a sense of wonder, though childhood, adolescence and into adulthood.”

These ideas carried the day, and Chris was awarded the commission.  In Maine the “Percent for Art” law provides for art in public buildings, by setting aside one percent of the construction budget to purchase original works of art for new or renovated buildings receiving state funds.  Some may say this is progressive waste, but I say it is arch-conservative, given that art predates agriculture and mark-making on cave ceilings shows that art is at the core of humankind’s quest for meaning. Maine has simply acknowledged same.

The Middle School budget was $69 Million, so art was heavy on the docket.  The architects were so taken with his idea that they moved his mural onto the central corridor of the school, where every child every day will pass among the building entrance, the library, cafeteria and gym.  Pride of place indeed.   

Chris handled the design and layout.  I handled the brush.  It was a marvelous project with which to be involved.  Best of all, how often in life do you get the chance to write to your Mother: “Michelangelo ain’t got nothing on me!!  I am painting a ceiling mural in the new SoPo Middle School!!”