By Debbie Adams
Roanoke County Public School art teachers have partnered with the Taubman Museum of Art and Carilion Clinic to paint “Healing Tiles” which will be placed in the ceilings at Carilion Children’s Hospital.
Sara Cubberly, RCPS Art Supervisor, says the tiles are meant to “bring healing and comfort to those who are there.”
Twenty-three county art teachers have been working on the project. Later this school year, 75 students in the Center for Visual Arts and Museum Studies at the Burton Center for Arts and Technology (BCAT) will also each paint a tile.
Vinton area art teachers participating in the project include Ciara Carr, Allyson Goin, and Denise Sartell from William Byrd High School, Rob Mitchell from William Byrd Middle School, Wendy Pease from W. E. Cundiff Elementary, Kathleen Lunsford from Bonsack Elementary, Ginny Patrick from Mount Pleasant Elementary, and Aimee Oesterreich from Herman L. Horn Elementary.
Several of the Healing Tiles which are complete are on display at the County School Administrative Offices on Cove Road.
During the 2019-2020 school year, the Taubman staff worked with local fourth and fifth graders, providing them with instruction, prompts, and materials to create the Healing Tiles. Students at Boones Mill, Fishburn Park, Garden City, and Morningside Elementary schools participated, along with students from the Temple Emanuel Teen Youth Group. Participants painted over 100 ceiling tiles before schools closed in March due to COVID-19.
