Kim Freedman's vision of peace and freedom came to her in the shower.
"After 9-11, I felt like I wanted to make a statement to have the children be able to express their feelings because I knew how upset I was. It came to me in the shower," said Freedman, Cold Spring's art teacher. "I thought, wouldn't it be great if each child could express feelings of peace, tranquillity and freedom — to change this awful thing to something hopeful for the future?"
On display in the front hallway of Cold Spring, is a 24-foot long, five-foot-high, 450-piece hope for the future. The mosaic tile wall is composed of 450 individual tiles created by every student, teacher and staff member at Cold Spring Elementary. At both sides of the wall are five notebooks filled with essays students wrote about the meaning of their individual tile as well as their visions of peace and their hopes for the future.
"When I walk by to art class, sometimes I look at the wall. Everyday, I pick a few tiles to look at," said Kathleen McCarthy, a third grade student. "I thought it was a neat idea. I thought it turned out great."
THE PROJECT STARTED in September when Freedman asked each student to depict his or her vision of peace with two separate drawings. After they selected which one they would use, students painted their drawing onto tiles, which Freedman eventually fired in a kiln.
"There are a lot of tiles — that catches your eye. It has an impact because all will remember it. We can think of the different ways we painted peace and freedom. Everybody used the tiles to establish what they wanted to say," said Daniel Cooper, third grade.
Two carpenters with Montgomery County Public Schools, B.G. Bealle and John Lowder, and a tile setter Larry Crutchley, were needed for the construction of the wooden frame and for the installation of the final work, which comes in six parts.
"I couldn't believe how big it was. When you envision something in your mind it's one thing, when it actually went up on the wall, it blew me away," said Freedman.
"IT WAS SUCH a moving experience for them, they each wrote something about each tile," said Freedman. "When the wall came up, they would stand in front of it and see how different each person's vision of peace was. It was so uplifting to see hope for the future in the children's eyes."
And the impact the wall has continues to evolve each and every day as children, visitors and the Cold Spring community look at the power of the messages behind each individual tile and the way they come together as a whole.
"Sometimes I look at ones that give me the most meaning, sometimes I like to step back and look at the whole thing," said Jonathan Burket, fifth grade. "All show the same vision in different ways. I think this will always be with me. Everybody put their best work to create something phenomenal."
FREEDMAN HELD an assembly on May 24, to showcase the final product; begun in September.
"I thought it was a good way of healing after what happened. I've never done something like it, never been part of a big project," said Jonathan.
"It's better for me leaving school, because I can leave something behind for future generations. They can come look at it any time they need encouragement for peace," he said.