Magical Spaces: Playground and Murals

Magical Spaces: Playground and Murals designed by David McShane and painted with Felix St. Fort is located at the Rudolph Blankenburg Elementary School in 2011. The school had a 90,000 sq-ft playground composed of old cracked and weedy asphalt and little else. In 2008, Debra Ruben, a design professor at Drexel University, was looking for a project for her design students to take on. Her friend Carol Chew, the volunteer librarian at the Blankenburg School, suggested that they take on a playground transformation project. They started by having the Blankenburg students envision what a newly transformed playground could be and held workshops with the kids during their library time to make drawings, write essays, and make 3D models for the new “Magical Spaces” playground. Drexel students incorporated these ideas into an overall playground design, which was synthesized into a master plan. A key part of the design was the inclusion of interactive ground murals with potential for both play and learning activities that would extend up onto the walls.

With interactivity in mind, McShane thought about how the ground mural could come to life visually. He thought initially of a maze that students could walk through – and created one by combining some native African imagery: a textile embroidery pattern and a sankofa (a bird with its head looking back with a jewel in its beak – which represents the importance of learning from the past). He based the sankofa bird’s tail on the embroidery pattern, which was similar to a Celtic knot and was ideal for a maze to twist through it. He then thought that the bird concept could be expanded upon, and designed a giant compass for the ground as well – as a symbol of learning to find direction for the future. Flying from the compass and up the two walls on either side of it are two birds. Below the birds are cloud-like patterns that stretch out over the length of the playground walls. The student drawings that were painted on cloth were glued into the cloud areas to complete the designs. The idea is that the school is a place for ideas to take flight, and play is an important part of the learning process. So the interactive ground murals (which in addition to the maze also include hopscotch, foursquare, and a large US map) can generate learning and ideas that then take flight (figuratively and visually) in the wall murals.

The playground transformation got under way, with the completion of construction of raised flower and tree beds that provide shade and sitting areas for kids, new asphalt on the entire surface of the playground, and new basketball courts, a 5-lane 100-yard dash track, and kickball field area (all newly installed by the school district). A new play structure with rubber safety matting was installed by a private contractor. This new Magical Spaces playground was then enhanced further by having the extra color and beauty and visual interactiveness that the ground and wall murals added.

There was a dedication ceremony at the school auditorium on November 16, 2010 to celebrate the new playground installation. All students and teachers attended, with speeches by stakeholders and funders, including: Drexel University President John Fry, School District of Philadelphia Deputy Superintendent Dr. Lee Nunery, City Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, Community representative Mike Cormany, local historian Joe Becton, and artist Dave McShane from the Mural Arts Program.

Due to weather constraints, the painting of the mural spanned from fall 2010 into spring 2011. Carol Chew, Debra Ruben, and Blankenburg teachers and students all participated in painting the mural. Additional drawings by Blankenburg students were also projected onto cloth and painted, some during the MLK Day of Service in January at an event held at the Church of the Redeemer. The cloths were eventually glued onto the outdoor murals in the spring and became a permanent part of the murals. As part of their senior service project, a group of 8 high school students from the Shipley School, one student from Abington Friends School, and another student from Harriton High School also worked on the ground paintings.