Storytelling Through Art at Big Picture Vaux School

This past fall at Vaux Big Picture High School in the Sharswood neighborhood, Mural Arts got to be in the classroom for six weeks with 9th and 10th-grade students. This after-school art club was led by visiting teaching artist Cindy Lozito and facilitated in the biology classroom of Nanyamka Wali (also known as Mama Nam).

Each session introduced a concept and/or medium to scholars as a means of self-expression and storytelling, focusing on ways that students could continue to do outside the classroom.

Visit our project webpage to learn more.

Mini-Zines: Intro to You

In the first session, scholars were greeted by Cindy Lozito as she briefly presented her artistic practice as an illustrator and muralist. The participants were introduced to the concept of zine-making and techniques to make one on their own. Students created zines about their lives or stories of their interest.

Story Collaging & Diary Comics

In a continuation of the mini-zine workshop, Cindy brought in food, fashion, and lifestyle magazines so scholars could create their own collages. She introduced them to four-panel diary comics and allowed scholars space to create their own hybrid collage comics to talk about their favorite anime, K-pop singers, and stories about family members.

Cyanotype as Memory-Keeping

In the third session, scholars learned how to make cyanotypes using paint markers and dried flowers and found objects to draw motifs and memories. Students’ cyanotype artworks included cartoon characters, Tamagotchis, and the Eagles. They enjoyed learning about a camera-less way to create exposures and experimented with contrast and shapes through their compositions.

Papermaking at Sanctuary Farm

Participants of the art club went on a field trip to Sanctuary Farm, an urban farming organization in Sharswood that aims to address food insecurity. With facilitation from the Executive Director of Sanctuary Farm, Andrea, and the Program Coordinator, Aryanna, the scholars learned how to make recycled sheets of colorful paper by blending old paper scraps. This was a particularly engaging session, as students got to see the site where Cindy’s upcoming mural will be at the farm and pick flowers from shrubs around the farm to add to their handmade paper. Scholars were excited to learn more about Sanctuary Farm’s work and discover a papermaking technique they could try at home.

Printmaking by the People

For the fifth art club session, students had the chance to engage with Printmaking by the People, a project in collaboration with Mural Arts that engages with Philadelphia’s historic role in civic dialogue through printmaking. Visiting artist Ava Haitz taught scholars how to create their own prints out of foam and acrylic ink, while curatorial advisor Todd Bressi explained how they could interpret and reimagine the Declaration of Independence through their prints.

Participants responded to the prompt by composing printing plates on issues and topics that are important to them, including LGBTQIA+ rights, voting, and self-love. Scholars’ final prints were added to Printmaking by the People’s collection that will ultimately culminate into a mural in 2026 as part of Philadelphia’s Semiquincentennial celebration.

Collaborative Zine

For the sixth and final session, students worked in pairs to create one collaborative zine about their experience in the art club. Using photos snapped during workshops and their own artwork, scholars created zine spreads on what they found memorable about each art club session. They worked together on a collaborators page at the end, including their signatures, jokes, and Instax photos from their last session together. Once all the pages were ready, Cindy and Mama Nam made copies of the final zine so each scholar could take one home. To celebrate the last day of the art club, participants were awarded certificates, checks, and their own mini paper-making screens.