If you have ever been in the HHS library, you might have noticed the large mosaic on the ramp. This mosaic covers the walls on either side of the ramp, and takes up over 250 square feet. It depicts iconic children’s and young adult books like Harry Potter, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and The Book Thief. The two sections at the end of each wall were created by Kevin Lehman and Maria Hershey, who both played an important role in the process of making the mosaic. However, most students don’t realize how recently this mosaic was made. In fact, the final pieces were just put in this year!

In 2018, the first community night was held in the school for people from all over the community to come and help make clay tiles for the mosaic. The director of the mosaic, Kelly Gallagher, organized the community nights in order to give people the opportunity to pitch in on a big community project for the school.

Mrs. Gallagher has been in charge of the mosaic project since the very beginning. She has worked countless hours to get the mosaic done, with a lot of help from students and community members, and has continued to work on it even after her retirement. I interviewed Mrs. Gallagher to get her side of the story, and to see how much this project has grown.

Q: What gave you the idea to make the mosaic?

A: “When our department head Brian Lehman told me there was an art grant for the ceramic classes, I immediately knew I wanted to have my classes create a mural for the ramp in the library. The librarians asked the art department if we could paint a mural on the walls of the ramp and a variety of ideas were floated for this area in the library, but nothing was set in stone until the grant was made available.”

Q: Has the mosaic changed much from how you originally envisioned it?

A: “The mosaic has changed from the first ideas for this site-specific mural. Students in the Clay III classes were tasked with developing motifs for the mural. These early ideas made it to the sketch stage.”

Q: What were some of the other concepts for the theme?

A: “Quilt designs, the four seasons, and several non-objective designs were just some of the early motif ideas for the mural. I am so happy that the mural theme became a children and young adult book theme.”

Q: What gave you the inspiration for the book theme?

A: “The grant from the Hempfield Education Foundation allowed me to hire the local ceramic artist Kevin Lehman as a guide for this huge undertaking. Kevin visited with my clay classes in 2017 and led the students in brain-storming group discussions for the mural.”

Q: If you were able to make another mosaic in the school, where would you put it?

A: “If I were to create another ceramic mural, I would put it on the columns in the commons so all the students could see beautiful artwork every day.”

Q: Is there anything you want to say to the HHS students/mosaic volunteers?

A: “The amount of time and energy needed to create such a large-scale work of art was not something I could imagine at the start of this project. I am forever grateful to all the students and community members that assisted in the creation of these two artworks. A special thank you goes out to Kevin Lehman, without whom this would have not been possible. Kevin designed and created the green end section on the left side. In addition, Maria Hershey and her family helped with the mural project enormously. In fact, it was Maria Hershey that designed and completed the second end piece, which is just incredible and relates so well to the books theme.”

Q: What were your favorite/least favorite parts of the process?

A: “My favorite part of the process was the series of community nights I held in my room in the evening. During these sessions, many members of the Hempfield Community actually created the background pieces. The helpers ranged in age from two years up to ladies in their seventies, as well as many families. My least favorite part of this undertaking was the amount of time it took from start to finish because of the scale of the work. I thought both sides would be able to be completed that first year, but because of the complexity of the process and delay in installation due to covid, the completion took much longer than I realized. Nevertheless, I am very proud of all those that had a part of this truly beautiful ceramic work of art.”

Q: Is there anything you would like to mention?

A: “I would like to add that although all the clay students were involved for the last five years in a variety of ways, such as, designing, rolling slabs, cutting shapes, numbering tiles, glazing tiles, organizing the designs, there were several of my Clay II students that played a larger part in the creation of some specific sections on the two murals. Maria Hershey was able to recognize these students in her end section. I  would also like your readers to know it took several weeks during the summer of 2018 and the summer of 2022 to install this mural. Once again, without the help of my family, some of the art teachers, and the Hershey family, this mural as you see it now would not have been possible.”

The final pieces of the mosaic were put in this year, finally wrapping up this massive project. Students can see the mosaic in the library at any time, and students that helped cut, glaze, or lay tiles for the mosaic can see their very own work. The history behind this project shows a good lesson to never judge a book by its cover.