A new mural representing the four modern languages taught at GA, created by senior Sofia Eichsteadt, is now on view outside the language classrooms on the third floor.
Mr. Chubb has had the idea to display a Modern Language mural for a long time but never knew whom to ask until one day, while teaching his Spanish class, he noticed a student in his class, Eichsteadt, drawing during class. He asked to see what she was drawing, so she proceeded to show him her sketchbook. Mr. Chubb appreciated her artwork and asked if she wanted to create a mural for the Modern Language Department.
Eichsteadt agreed and began to come up with ideas. She was free to do anything with the mural – the directions she was given included that she “do something with language and travel”. With those directions, Eichsteadt’s biggest challenges were to figure out “how to actually represent a language” and “decide what aspects to focus on”.
Her initial idea was to portray cultural scenes like dances, food, and celebrations, but she soon realized that was hard to do with all four languages. Eichsteadt met with Mr. David Love, Visual Arts Chair, and “gained inspiration from some of his work with background patterns”. After joining this project in November 2020, by Spring 2021 Eichsteadt was workshopping ideas and finalizing designs. Her final idea was to have four different panels – one panel for each modern language taught at GA – with the main focus being a famous piece of architecture from the country where the language is most commonly spoken.
Architecture was the final decision because it “has to do with travel, is easily recognizable and has to do with art.” Once her idea was finalized, she purchased the supplies with support from GA and started painting in July 2021. Eichsteadt filled the backgrounds with the silhouettes of countries that speak the language and patterns that relate to the different cultures that speak the language. She used wood panels, acrylic paints, palette knives, brushes, and a varnish for the top to complete this project. She put on the finishing touches in November 2021 and the mural was hung up soon after.
Eichsteadt’s favorite part about the mural project was “seeing it all come together in a way I was happy with.” She said it reflected how she “grew as an artist” and it “feels like a culmination of my high-school art career.”
