Blooming Through the Waves, 2022Artist: Atalie Gagnet
Assistant: Chase Melendez
Apprentices: Yara Chaouali, Haley Franklin, Lily Rueckhaus
As part of Rosewood Arts Center’s renovation project, which is currently underway, a community mural now adorns the exterior of the building. Designed by Atalie Gagnet, the mural was made possible through a special partnership with the Dayton Printmakers Cooperative (DPC), students in the Kettering City Schools, and Kettering residents. Three Fairmont High School students were chosen from a pool of 21 applicants from across the Miami Valley to apprentice with Atalie and paint the mural. The apprentices are Fairmont High School 2022 graduates Yara Chaouali and Haley Franklin and rising senior Lily Rueckhaus (mural apprentices pictured, left).
Titling the work, Yara wrote: “I came up with Blooming Through the Waves because I feel like it encompasses both parts of the wave and the flowers. It shows the flowers blooming through the colorful waves. I kind of like to think of it like the flowers bloomed in the waves despite the adversity it faced. Kind of like a community together.”
Blooming Through the Waves was commissioned by CitySites Public Art Program with the City of Kettering with support from the Ohio Arts Council and the Montgomery County Arts and Culture District.