Both inside and outside Murch, there are many public art pieces.
All the pieces featured here are part of a larger series of public art that can be found around Washington, DC and have been loaned to Murch by the Commission on the Arts and Humanities' DC Creates! Public Art Program. Over 100 artists put in a bid to display their art on the Murch campus.
In 2018, Bear Bunyan and Honey Bear in Koi Pond were brought to Murch right before the school's grand re-opening. Members of the team that chose the bears, including Murch staff, loved the bears and voted for them to be included, along with several other pieces.
Bear Bunyan is 8’ x 6’ x 5’
Honey Bear in Koi Pond is 6’ x 3’
Material: Concrete, Steel, Glass
According to the artist, Faducci, who is based in California, "the subject matter references the natural wildlife of the DC area and encourages intimate contact with nature. The intent is to positively link the development of imagination and the sense of wonder while experiencing the natural world. This opportunity to reconnect children with the natural world will create a future generation that values and preserves nature."
You can find Color Cascade hanging behind the security desk, and it can also be seen from the second floor rotunda. It's a curtain of overlapping acrylic circles of various sizes. By repeating a simple form, a more complex structure emerges. Different finishes of material ranging from transparent to opaque to reflective create a sense of depth in a shallow space. Using a gradient of blues and greens for the top floor and oranges and yellows for the ground floor sparks visual interest that ties into the school's color-coded way-finding system.
The artist of this piece is Becky Borlan, a multi-disciplinary public artist who works both indoors and outdoors across a range of materials. By exploring fundamental building block shapes, she aims to interrupt the ubiquity of the typical built environment and create something more whimsical and playful that expresses her constant wonderment with the visual world.
The three paintings above are by Rose Jaffe, a visual artist with media spanning from mural paintings to book illustrations. The content of her work is most often based upon the human form - exploring themes of political activism, female empowerment, natural healing, and spiritual grounding. Hands In This Together hangs on the wall in the Welcome Center. Hall of Flags and Left & Right are on the 2nd floor between the 2nd and 3rd grade hallways.
Inspired by Murch's history, legacy and diversity, these two-dimensional panels depict the majestic silhouette of a mustang, Murch's mascot, and undulating lines that represent the Potomac River's water with birds flying over it. View these dynamic panels on the big playground, as well as on Davenport Street between the Pre-K and K classrooms.
The artist of these pieces is Celia Lueza who creates vibrant pieces in a varying range of artistic media - from traditional media like painting and sculpture to monumental projects like street murals and public art installations like the ones on Murch's campus.