Secret little garden
at Baldi Middle School

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

You don’t have to stretch your imagination to imagine that the garden of Greek goddess Persephone has come to life all around you just outside the Baldi Middle School library.
"Art takes you into it," said Nikita Shah, an eighth-grader at the Bustleton school.
The Baldi student’s art does just that. You get lost in it.
As you step into a small second-floor courtyard, you are enveloped by the brilliantly colored flowers, trees, butterflies and turtles that surround you on the walls, while a giant yellow flower floats on a blue pool at your feet. Hundreds of original tiles add depth, texture and color to the masterpiece.
Baldi art teacher Marjorie Robbins had successfully applied for a city Mural Arts Program grant.
"My idea was to transform this unused space into a living classroom," Robbins explained. "I saw this special spot as an ideal place for students to work on special projects, collaborate on their ideas, also a place for leisure reading, and a place for a science teacher to propagate spring plants."
The Mural Arts project grant enabled 23 students to work with artist Joe Brenman over an eight-week period to create this magical spot. Students learned about the history of mural arts and murals, and participated in multiple art lessons. They also designed hundreds of original tiles.
The amazing result is "a reflection of how much joy and creativity the Baldi Middle School students have," Brenman said.
For three years, the School District of Philadelphia has worked with the city’s Mural Arts Program to create or restore 60 murals at school sites. It was supposed to be a five-year partnership with a goal of 100 murals, but fiscal problems have led the School Reform Commission to cancel the program, according to Deborah Zuchman, the school district’s manager of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Project.
According to the program Web site at www.muralarts.org, nearly every school in the city is on the waiting list for murals.
Zuchman urged Baldi’s teachers, staff and parents to make a plea or write to newspapers and political representatives and "tell them about the value of this program."
Baldi principal Eugene McLaughlin expressed his disappointment that mural arts funding has dried up.
"It’s really sad this is taking a cut. Hopefully they’ll come to their senses and restore the funding," he said. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com