Maryland Artist Brightens Local Schools with Murals

Maryland-based artist Gayle Mangan Kassal recently completed several mural projects at two schools in Anne Arundel County. For each project, Kassal worked with students to create artwork depicting the school’s culture and surroundings.

At Meade Middle School, a canvas mural featuring a bulldog mascot was adhered to Vycom Celtec expanded PVC foam board and hung in the cafeteria. At Tracey’s Elementary School, Celtec panels were painted with iconic regional images to add aesthetic appeal to a highly-visible exterior wall.

Mascot mural

Meade Middle school commissioned her to create a mural to spruce up a dull white cafeteria wall. She worked with students to develop the concept and paint the mural on canvas. The final piece prominently features the Maryland flag and a super-hero version of the school’s bulldog mascot.

“Since the mural hangs 10′ high in the cafeteria, using foam board rather than the wall let the students be involved in the painting without the safety risks of working on scaffolding,” explains Mangan Kassal, “Knowing I could adhere a painted canvas to the sturdy foam board when completed gave us the ability to roll up the working canvas each day, keeping it from occupying precious classroom space.”

To prepare it for installation in the school, she scuffed the surface of ¼-inch-thick foam board, purchased from Piedmont Plastics in Elkridge, Maryland. She then applied wallpaper paste to it and rolled the canvas onto the board. The finished mural was light, flexible, and easy to transport, lift and install.

“It looks amazing,” says Principal Christine DeGuzman. “The kids were very excited when they came in at the start of the year and saw it.”