Butler Elementary mural: 'A little step closer to world peace' (PHOTOS)

SANTA ROSA BEACH — Local students have spent the school year bridging a cultural gap through art.

Fourth-graders at Butler Elementary School have connected with fourth-graders at a school just outside Tokyo, Japan, through a series of art projects that culminated in a mural reflecting their cultures.

View a photo gallery of the students and their mural.

“I think it was a good experience because instead of just learning about them, we got to communicate with them and do a project,” said 10-year-old Summer Lockhart.

The mural was painted as part of the International Intercultural Mural Exchange, a program designed to help students appreciate the differences and similarities between world cultures, said Constance Rogers, the Butler Elementary art teacher who oversaw the program.

The classes began working together in August. Students got to know each other through photographs and art projects. For example, Rogers took photographs of each student and had them write a short description about themselves, including details such as their favorite food and activities. The art teacher in Japan had her students make small posters with similar details on them.

“The whole goal … is just to provide global and cultural understanding,” Rogers said.

After exchanging some sketches, the students ultimately decided to divide their mural diagonally and each paint symbols and landmarks that reflect their country.

“Everyone had different ideas about what they wanted to do,” said 10-year-old Frida Licona.

After some discussion, Butler students settled on painting a large Statute of Liberty, a dairy farm, a beach scene with dolphins, an eagle and assorted other scenes that reflect American culture.  The Japanese students painted their half first and mailed it Rogers for her students to complete.

The students’ interest in their Japanese peers didn’t stop when they left art class, however. They carried their new knowledge into social studies, noting not only the vast age difference between the countries, but how World War II could have forever altered relations between the countries.

“The depth of what they have told me about … and the thought they have given … has impressed me beyond belief,” said Mary Telford, a co-teacher in the students’ social studies class who began working with them last week. 

The mural and the posters sent from Japan have been on-display at the Butler to help encourage the same sort of awareness in the entire student body. Rogers will mail the mural to the teacher in Japan later this week so students there can see the work their American counterparts completed.

“I think this mural is just a little step closer to world peace,” said 9-year-old Kessler Foreste.