A new “Living Wall” sculpture graces the stairwell on the second floor of the ArtsQuest building. The project was a collaboration between ArtsQuest teaching artists, BASD middle school students from all four schools, and created through a Pennsylvania Council for the Arts artist residency with Mallory Zondag, who also created the Musikfest poster. On the first Saturday of Musikfest, Aug. 2, an unveiling ceremony was held.

Manager of Education & PCA Programs at ArtsQuest Joanne Garcia said, “Welcone to the unveiling of our project. We became a partner with the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, to facilitate and support artists in residence. The BASD is one of our biggest partners, connecting professional artists with students. Classes with Mallory in fiber arts, facilitated by Joe Anthes. Connect art with Middle School Arts, Mallory put it all together.”

Mallory said, “We used wet felting, and needle felting for the flowers. Every students’ sculpture becomes part of a living wall. They learned as humans to be healthy and respect nature. Giving away your art, giving something to make your community better.” Each middle school made a different part of the mural, from the moss to the pipes to the flowers.

Joseph Anthes, BASD Supervisor of Related Arts, said, “Our partnership with ArtsQuest is a model of community partnership. We get our students to work with teaching artists, in a community venue; we’re really proud of this, unique for our students.”

You can see the sculpture yourself anytime the ArtsQuest building is open.