Local artist, Alison Kenyon, has completed a mural within the main hallway of the Sierra Academy of Expeditionary Learning (SAEL) located at 505 Main Street in Nevada City, and she did it all within one week.
Students in grades 9 through 12 at SAEL were out of class for October break, and Kenyon was putting the final touches on the project just hours before students came in for class Monday morning.
“I had just enough time to clean everything up and skedaddle out of there,” Kenyon said.
The concept and design had been completed over the summer, but the execution of the mural on the 11 x 33 foot wall has just recently become a part of the core values that SAEL emphasizes as student norms.
A large yellow shining moon anchors the mural in the middle, with dark night skies of navy blue, a mountain range outlined in icy reflection, the silhouettes of tall green pines, and a half-a-dozen or more wolves proudly looking over the landscape come together magically in the design.
The words, “We are crew, not passengers,” circle around the full moon, and this is a reminder of principles that guide the curriculum and culture of the school.
SAEL is a college preparatory public charter high school that uses a project-based, hands-on, interdisciplinary approach to learning, according to Richard Young, Executive Director of SAEL.
SAEL is tuition-free and has the same academic standards and expectations as other public schools, but with a focus on making the learning relevant.
“SAEL is part of a national network called EL which stands for Expeditionary Learning,” according to Young. “There’s 185 other schools just like SAEL… The quote, ‘We are crew, not passengers,’ is pretty Hallmark.”
At SAEL ‘crew’ has a unique meaning. Students are set into groups or ‘crews’ the first day of school in ninth grade, and they navigate through high school together with a ‘crew advisor,’ according to Young.
The word ‘crew’ implies that they are working members with a role and significance for the good of the whole — not just along for the ride, according to Young.
The mural created by Kenyon has other significant elements in it as well.
As a starting point for the design, Kenyon had the idea of the wolf pack as one symbol related to the identity of the school, along with nautical imagery of the compass, however the six student norms were key to capturing the values and culture of the school.
Grit. Integrity. Collaboration. Curiosity. Craftsmanship. Advocacy.
These six qualities shape each ‘crew member’ who attends SAEL.
“I didn’t want to just write words like in a banner, or whatever,” Kenyon said. “I wanted it to really be incorporated into the piece… I came up with having each word flow into the pattern of the fur of each wolf. The connection I made was that it ties into the model of the school…,sitting at a desk and memorizing facts and figures, versus, being integrated with the world and owning each value.”
SAEL is the tenant of the building at the top of Main Street which is owned by the Nevada City School District; Kenyon was given a fair amount of artistic freedom in her design, according to Young.
The philanthropic project was “donated with love by Sam and Shelly” as the corner of the mural indicates — no last name available.
The wolves in the moonlight gather together in the scenery, and each of the letters of each word that represents proud SAEL students is swirled into their fur.
“I just want to throw in there, that night that I started painting this, a comet was super visible,” Kenyon said, pointing to a comet in the night sky.
Students at SAEL said they were very impressed with the mural that was created in the one week while they were on break.
“The whole ‘We are crew, not passengers’ thing, kind of got forgotten, nobody knows that little saying because it was back in freshman year for me. Now it actually makes it more integrated into the school, Linnea Warner, an 11th grader said.
Another student felt the symbol of the wolf pack was meaningful and that the colorful mural was a big improvement from a blank white wall.
“Wolves always stay in packs,” Brayden Allen, a 11th grader said.
Kenyon had to tap into some ‘old-school’ techniques to create the mural when she realized the hallway was too narrow to project the image on the wall and then trace it.
First she had to create a grid on the wall, measure every square carefully, string it with chalk string similar to what surveyors would use on a construction site.
“It took one day to measure it all, one day to sketch it, then paint the designs finally,” Kenyon said. “It was a pain in the neck — literally — my neck was killing me.”
Kenyon also mixes her own paint to create just the right amount of each color and hue.
She uses interior house paint which she is grateful to have been given a discount on by the family owned business, Moule Paint and Glass, located at 700 East Main Street in Grass Valley.
“I mix it myself so I can make as many variations of color as I want,” Kenyon said.
Kenyon has an eclectic background with varied experience in the arts. She is known for deeply personal portraits of other women, according to her website.
She also placed second on the competition reality TV show “Skin Wars” in 2016.
The opportunity to create such a significant mural in the heart of a school like SAEL was important to her.
“I am looking into enrolling my own son in SAEL when he finishes middle school,” Kenyon said.
SAEL is a small school with an enrollment hovering around 200 students that can offer individualized attention for students.
“Character education is woven into how we teach and how we learn,” according to the SAEL website.
Visitors walking through the hallways of the main building can see bulletin boards with images and artwork from students who have participated in one facet of the curriculum called a learning expedition.
“This ninth grade learning expedition is based around water. The fall is based around fire,” Young said. “Water is a gateway to so many different state standards — water science is a really powerful subject that involves chemistry, biology, ecosystem services, geography, geology — all those great things. Water also offers a lot of metaphoric and literary entry points.”
During one trip to Herschman’s Pond, students learn water quality research based on the skills they’re learning in science, and also do some invasive species removal.
“We want to authenticate the skills, knowledge, and abilities that we’re asking them to do in the classroom, by showing them the real world application. And they can be service based,” Young said.
Young encourages any family who is interested in learning more about the unique programs at SAEL to contact him by phone or by email.