Beautifying our Community

We are proud to bring to life public art projects that increase awareness and appreciation for the arts in our community, beautify unused spaces and involve community members in the valuable process of creating art.


 

In 2009, we invited hundreds of community members to come create with us, and to leave a lasting mark by completing a tile for our community mosaic.

Our mosaic is permanently installed on the exterior of Clay Art Center. The mosaic features the image of a symbolic tree whose roots, trunk and branches nurture creativity and strength, and provide shelter and hope to the community.

CAC helped residents decorate a new community garden at the Weber Drive housing site with mosaic-tiled benches. Residents of all ages created hand-made tiles to decorate the benches and provide an inviting place to sit and relax.

With an Art Partners Grant from ArtsWestchester, CAC worked with more than 500 kindergarteners at Park Early Childhood Center in Ossining to create a permanent mosaic in the school’s courtyard. During the project the students learned about living things while creating clay worms, bugs, grass, flowers, birds, and soil to celebrate all the living things encountered in their daily lives.

Mosaics in the courtyard at JFK Elementary School in Port Chester reflect each of the seasons and the changes they bring to the community.

Over 45 children from the 21st Century After School Program at Port Chester Middle School worked with CAC to brainstorm designs for a mosaic bench. This bench is permanently installed in Lyon Park in Port Chester and showcases enormous sunflowers growing from strong roots in the community. This project was funded with an Arts Alive grant from ArtsWestchester.

Clay Art Center’s “Clay Expressions” program, offered free to members of Gilda’s Club Westchester each fall and spring, has transformed the lives of more than 200 men and women impacted by cancer. In the winter of 2016, Clay Expressions participants faced the loss of a classmate, Ilene Rose. The students, who had experienced the transformative power of clay together while sharing their journeys through recovery, felt her absence keenly. The class decided that they would like to use their upcoming class sessions to create a commemorative mosaic mural, to honor the life and spirit of Ilene, and other members of Gilda’s Club who have passed before her.

Created with 5th grade students at J.F.K. Elementary School in Port Chester as part of the after school enrichment program offered by Carver Center. The 10 x 7 foot mosaic of Carver Center namesake George Washington Carver was installed in the front lobby of the Carver Center.

The Woodland Mosaic Benches were created with students from the Family Coachman Center, a program that is supported by the NEA, ArtsWestchester and an anonymous donor. CAC partnered with the White Plains Recreation Department to outfit two wooded walking trails in the city. One bench is installed at the entrance of the Bryant Mamaroneck Park, while the second is located at the Jack Harrington Greenway.

The Go With the Flow Mosaic Bench was created in partnership with volunteers from The Links of Westchester and the Wartburg’s memory care unit. Funding was provided for regular classes by the Links and additional funds were provided by the Wartburg to complete the project.

 

Created with all 400 students attending Edgewood Elementary School in the Spring of 2018, this mosaic project was installed in a prominent hallway of the school building over the course of 2 weeks.

Created with students from Port Chester Middle School and installed in the school's Giving Garden, the Save the Bees Mosaic Bench focuses on the dangers of extinction facing the honey bee.

Funds for this project were provided by the Common Sense Fund.

 
 
 

Students from Port Chester Middle School participated in the creation of this mosaic which decorates the stairs leading to the giving garden. 

Funds for this project were provided by the Cornelia T Bailey Foundation

 

This mosaic, which is currently in process, will decorate the exterior of the Yonkers Middle High School. Led by art teacher Denise Cachoian with the collaboration of the students, the mosaic illustrates the history of Yonkers.

For inquiries on how to bring a beautiful mosaic to life with Clay Art Center, email communityarts@clayartcenter.org