Van Gogh Comes to Life at CHS

students remain hard at work on a mosaic rendition of Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting The Starry Night, and Colleen DePietro, art teacher and supervisor for the project, said it's nearing completion.

The project was prompted when the school built a display case outside of the art room and DePietro took notice.

“The design of the case was just crying for a mosaic,” she said.

DePietro and Cinnaminson High School photography teacher Derek Moore teamed up in the fall and envisioned translating a recognizable piece of art into a permanent fixture at the school in which all students could take part in, regardless of skill or even being enrolled in an art class.

“I wanted everybody to be able to help out,” DePietro said.

Signs were posted around the school calling for volunteers. In total, she estimates about 50 students are working on the mosaic, and about a dozen working on it diligently.

One of those students is 17-year-old Michaela Plunkett, a senior at the high school who is a photography student of Moore’s.

“My friend brought me down one day because it was an open volunteer project and I liked working on it,” she said.

Despite not taking any art classes other than photography, Plunkett soon became an integral part of the mosaic according to DePietro and Moore.

“This was a good outlet for her,” said DePietro.

DePietro said the mosaic is three-quarters of the way finished. Still to be added is the quote by Van Gogh, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together;” a fitting quote for the large mosaic made of small ceramic tiles gently and laboriously pieced together by the students. 

Plunkett expects that many of the students working on the project will return to the high school one day after graduating and see the mosaic once again.

“It would be cool when you come back and see a mosaic or a painting you did and say ‘I did that,’” she said.

This keeps Plunkett motivated.

“It’s a sense of pride, especially how much work we all put into it,” she added.

“They are leaving their mark on the school,” DePietro said.

The funds were raised by the student art club Community Arts, which relied on donations from students to fund the mosaic and other art projects around the school.

“This year we did a project called adopt a door where teachers got a door panel painted for their rooms,” said DePietro.

The art club raised nearly $1,000 for that project with student donations, she said.

“We try to put our little touch around the school and try to make it look a little better,” said Moore of the door panels.

DePietro and Moore expect the mosaic to be complete in the next month, certainly by the end of the year.

“I’m just looking forward to doing our next one,” said Moore.