A tradition at every SAMA mosaic conference is creating a mural during the conference by attendees and donating it to a local charity or non-profit. This year Dawn Mendelson and I were asked to design and lead the Mosaic Marathon for St. Madeleine’s Sophie Center for adults with developmental disabilities. After we took a tour of the class rooms and gardens we decided to create mosaic panels to flank the entry doors and a mosaic over the doors with their name on it. We designed the two panels with playful imagery that represents the different programs that were offered from cooking to gardening to swimming to glass arts and mosaic. The students at St Madeleines created 50 fused glass hearts to celebrate their 50th anniversary along with mosaic flowers and fused glass lady bugs. Over the entry doors we created a pique-assiette signage panel. Water jet cut letters were created to keep the typography crisp in contrast to the background and frame. The final mosaics were a wonderful group effort created and installed in four days.
