29 Pieces Logo

Cool Schools

One of 29 Pieces’ primary focuses in 2020 was the design, production and installation of art for public parks located on six Dallas ISD elementary school campuses.

Alejandra Camargo and Karen Blessen hug and smile at each other while standing in front of the completed Burnet Elementary mural, which depicts children in a vibrant, whimsical nature scene.
Artist Alejandra Camargo, who designed the Burnet Elementary School mural, and 29 Pieces co-founder Karen Blessen pose next to the finished installation. Photo by 29 Pieces.

This project was a partnership between 29 Pieces, the Trust for Public Land, Texas Trees Foundation and Dallas ISD as part of a mission to make greenspace available within a 10-minute walk for all Dallas citizens.

29 Pieces engaged teachers, students, and administrators at each of the six participating Dallas campuses in our Thrive Lesson(Opens in a New Window), which invites participants to imagine a “garden of peace.”

Students’ art offered a template of motifs that professional artists drew upon to design a large custom mural for each school. 29 Pieces enlisted artists Alejandra Camargo, Ray-Mel Cornelius, Abi Salami, Billy Hassell, Jorge Gutierrez, Viola Delgado and Peter Wood to transform the students’ drawings into full-scale murals.

A white staircase outside Sam Houston Elementary is covered in a childlike illustration of a rainbow, a sun, butterflies lined up in a row, and the word, 'Caterpillar'.
Colorful mural showing three figures facing a rainbow and a row trees. Beside them is a quote by the writer Khalil Gibran that reads, “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky”.
Artists Viola Delgado and Peter Wood each created a mural for Sam Houston Elementary School (Dallas ISD). Wood designed the staircase mural, which sits adjacent to a second mural featuring a painting by Delgado and type design by Wood. Both murals were inspired by drawings created by Sam Houston Elementary students. Art teacher Adam George; murals printed by Thomas Printworks. Photos by 29 Pieces.
Two men stand on ladders while a third man assists them as they position sections of a mural against a brick wall. The mural depicts cartoon-style trees and a cactus with human faces, along with a bird, butterflies, insects, flowers, and a frog.
The crew from Thomas Printworks installs a mural at Reinhardt Elementary School (Dallas ISD). Artist Ray-Mel Cornelius designed the mural, taking inspiration from art created by students of the school. Art teacher Kojo E. Nkrumah. Photo by 29 Pieces.
Rainbow-colored school mural against a brick wall, divided into sections featuring cartoon-style rabbits, butterflies, rainclouds, flowers, suns, birds, ladybugs, peace signs, and hearts.
Artist Abi Salami created the mural at Frank Guzick Elementary School; the design was inspired by artwork created by students of the school. Art teacher Brandy M. Verseckes; mural printed by Thomas Printworks. Photo by 29 Pieces.
Thomas Printworks crew members stand on a ladder while installing a vibrant mural, which depicts a busy nature scene with flowers, butterflies and birds, on the side of a building on the John Ireland Elementary School campus.
The crew from Thomas Printworks installs the mural at John Ireland Elementary School (Dallas ISD), which was designed by artist Billy Hassell and inspired by artwork created by students of the school. Art teacher Mary C. Vongvivitpatana. Photo by 29 Pieces.

Participating Dallas ISD elementary schools included:

  • Frank Guzick and John Ireland (Southeast)

  • Arturo Salazar (South)

  • Sam Houston (Central)

  • Reinhardt (Northeast)

  • David G. Burnet (Northwest)

“Nature is my favorite subject, and it was a pleasure to see and incorporate the student art into my own. Their own joy with the theme was clear and an inspiration. I hope these murals bring the same sense of fun and appreciation of nature to the community that their creation brought to me.”
Ray-Mel Cornelius, Artist, Cool Schools Community Parks Mural Project, Reinhardt Elementary (Dallas ISD)
Thomas Printworks crew members install segments of the mural piece by piece along the brick exterior of Burnet Elementary School.
Thomas Printworks crew members smile and pose with family in front of the Burnet mural.
The crew from Thomas Printworks installs and poses next to the mural at Burnet Elementary School (Dallas ISD). Artist Alejandra Camargo designed the mural, taking inspiration from artwork created by students of the school. Art teacher Christy Phillips. Photos by 29 Pieces.
Wide shot of the completed mural installation at Burnet Elementary School
Wide shot of the finished Burnet Elementary School mural, which was designed by artist Alejandra Camargo and inspired by artwork created by students of the school. Art teacher Christy Phillips; mural printed by Thomas Printworks. Photo by 29 Pieces.
“Working with Karen Blessen, 29 Pieces and being endlessly delighted by the student’s inspirational and funny art made creating a mural with them a complete joy that I believe is apparent in the art we created together. I will forever admire these children and the child inside us all to see the best and most hopeful things in life.”
Jorge Gutierrez, Artist, Cool Schools Community Parks Mural Project, Salazar Elementary (Dallas ISD)
A member of the Thomas Printworks crew uses a screw to install a section of the Salazar Elementary mural along the school's brick exterior while other workers help.
Dozens of rectangular sections of the Salazar Elementary mural are laid out on the ground in the school's courtyard.
The crew from Thomas Printworks installs the mural at Salazar Elementary School (Dallas ISD), which was designed by artist Jorge Gutierrez and inspired art created by Salazar Elementary students. Art teacher Anastasia D. Kierst. Photos by 29 Pieces.
Thomas Printworks crew members on a lift finishing the installation of the Salazar Elementary mural, which depicts smiling blue cacti, birds, a moon and stars against a red background.
Wide shot of the Salazar Elementary School mural, which was designed by artist Jorge Gutierrez and inspired by art created by Salazar Elementary students. Art teacher Anastasia D. Kierst; mural printed by Thomas Printworks. Photo by 29 Pieces.

Amidst the distancing required of us during a pandemic, we were pleased to have the opportunity to work with individual schools to conduct our Thrive Lesson—and to involve so many students in using their imagination to explore the natural world!

A group of middle school students cover a wooden pole in a park with layers of pink, orange and green ribbon by running around the pole in circles while holding onto the end of each ribbon.
Students decorate a maypole with ribbons, an extension of our Thrive Lesson. 

The Thrive Lesson

How do gardens sustain living things, like plants, insects, flowers, or even you and me? In this lesson, students learn about different kinds of gardens and reflect on how the outdoors can be a place for dreaming, meditation, playing and tending.

The Thrive Lesson is part of Artists Making a Kinder World, our free art education curriculum designed to teach social-emotional learning.

Download the Thrive Lesson in English(Opens in a New Window)
Descargar la Lección de Prosperar en Español(Se abre en una nueva ventana)

See More Projects