The second Moorestown Friends School Vision 2020 art installation, following David Gamber’s 2014-15 mural in the Arts Suite hallway, will be led by MFS Artist-in-Residence Brad Carney.
Brad is Lead Instructor with the renowned City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. For nearly 12 years, Brad has worked tirelessly on public art projects around the city. He holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, and his abstract paintings illustrate the duality between the chaos and constancy of life.
“I envision the mural process as finding the collective student voice for each project,” said Brad. “The students’ role in a mural project is to listen to the community or neighborhood, and to visually express their story or vision. As a group, we investigate the issues presented to us and collaborate to build images.”
This new community art installation will celebrate instrumental music, and it will be installed in the Ensemble Room at MFS. Brad plans to utilize the talents of Lower, Middle, and Upper School students, as well as faculty and other MFS community members, to complete the project. Brad has already been introduced to Middle and Upper School students at two brief assemblies during which he detailed his studio practice, and later in the semester he will present an update on the installation.
Brad’s visit is funded by the The MFS Artist-in-Residence Program, an endowment which was established with the proceeds of the 1983 Parent Council Auction.
Brad’s mentoring process will begin with a brainstorming session involving advanced Upper School art students. He will also meet with Upper School student musicians who frequent the Ensemble Room space.
In addition, Upper School History Teacher Eliza McFeely will work with faculty to find appropriate crossovers between the mural arts initiative and traditional academic coursework.
By the end of the year 2020, the MFS Arts Department plans to complete seven of these large-scale community art projects. To learn more, contact Arts Department Chair Brian Howard at bhoward@mfriends.org.
[wc_button type=”primary” url=”http://mfs.smugmug.com/General/Vision-2020/Vision-2020-Brad-Carney” target=”_blank” title=”View photos from Brad’s presentation to the Middle School” position=”float”]View photos from Brad’s presentation to the Middle School[/wc_button]