Ocean Songs

Ocean Songs by artist Benjamin Volta is installed on the entrance to Alexander Adaire School in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This mosaic mural transforms the entrance of the school into an ocean scene, including fish swimming through octopus tentacles, surrounded by aquatic plant life. Volta worked with the STEM teacher to merge broader STEAM connections with the design that was informed with ideas from the students. The artist worked with students to measure the site and build scale models to complete the design, with fish drawings integrated into the DNA fish design on the walls. The “scales” were laser-cut from cloth and use an iridescent paint that is then tiled together.