Students' solar mural brightens Emeryville City Hall
source: Meredith May SF Chronicle 2003.4.4

Students at Emery High have built a solar-powered mural of Emeryville, which is on display at Emeryville City Hall. [The project will be exhibited at the Emeryville City Hall at 1333 Park Avenue from March 4 to May 31, 2003. City Hall is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Optimal viewing time for the solar mural is morning through mid -afternoon.]

Thirty juniors and seniors worked on the installation, which took six months of weekly work sessions combining sculpture and science smarts.

The 4-by-8-foot freestanding mural is a map of Emeryville, with solar- powered boats, buses, cars and signs. The moving parts are made of half-volt whirligigs that spin when sunlight hits them.

Hal Aronson, of Rahus Institute's Solar Schoolhouse program,
checks out the final product. Hal provided classroom instruction
on basics of solar energy along with wiring tips for the solar components of the mural.

"It's really quite a delightful thing," said kinetic sculptor Therese Lahaie, a member of the 45th Street Artists' Cooperative who designed the project.

Students first became interested in Lahaie's work during a field trip to her studio, where they were tickled by the sculptor's latest work: spinning persimmon tops.

Lahaie teamed with an Emery art teacher, science teacher and a solar engineer[Hal Aronson of Solar Schoolhouse] for the project. Students learned how to change polarities and solder motors and light-emitting diodes.

"They learned how they can create a sustainable world through the beauty of art," Lahaie said.

"Emeryville: A Solar City" is mounted in a glass corridor in City Hall, and the best viewing times are between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

The solar mural was unveiled last month to coincide with Art Is Education Month, an annual push for the art education in Alameda County schools.

Lahaie is hoping the mural, which will be on display weekdays through May 31, will drum up support for a parcel tax intended to restore art and music programs to the district. Lahaie's kinetic sculptures can be viewed at http://www.thereselahaie.com/solar_mural.html.