“Fragments of Change,” a striking new public mosaic designed and created by students at Coronado High School, will be officially unveiled on Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 5 pm at 6th Ave and D Street. The community is invited to attend the celebration.
Spanning 23 feet tall and 8 feet wide, the colorful mosaic took over ten months to complete and was custom-designed to fit a niche along the brick wall on the 6th Street side of the school.
The vision for a large-scale mosaic in this space dates back more than a decade, originating in the mind of CHS art teacher Laura Hill. But the project didn’t begin in earnest until the summer of 2024, when Hill and a group of students met ahead of the school year to begin developing the concept and design.
“We started with a small group over the summer to kick off the design process,” Hill explained. “The piece needed to be timeless and suitable for all ages, since it faces the public. It had to be aesthetically balanced, engaging, and meaningful to our student body — and it needed to have that WOW factor.”
The resulting image and title Fragments of Change, is delightful and representative, featuring vibrant natural imagery — flowers, plants, and fauna — set against a backdrop of sky that transitions from Coronado’s May gray to a canopy of midnight blue.
“The design and name stem from the metaphor of a student’s journey through the school system — much like a caterpillar transforming into a chrysalis and then emerging as a butterfly,” said Hill.
The Latin phrase at the top, Per Aspera Ad Astra, meaning ‘Through Hardships, to the Stars,’ serves as a powerful reminder of resilience and determination, encouraging students as they navigate personal challenges and prepare to soar into the world beyond school.
Once the design was finalized using Photoshop, it had to be scaled to fit the exact dimensions of the wall. Senior Art Portfolio student Griffin Wong played a key role in this stage. “Griffin’s math skills were crucial in scaling the image and creating a grid, which we then transferred onto eight large mosaic panels,” Hill noted.
Over 70 students contributed to the project throughout the school year, from first-year art students to advanced AP artists. The effort also involved two art instructors, three consultants, and support from the district’s maintenance team to ensure proper installation.
Principal consultant Kirstin Green served as the project’s artist-in-residence. A renowned mosaic artist, Green has created numerous public and private works across Southern California. “This has been a passion project for me,” she said. “For the students, being part of something permanent and public like this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Green’s role extended far beyond consultation — she dedicated two class periods every day throughout the school year, mentoring students and guiding the mosaic’s creation.
The students themselves found deep meaning and growth in the process.
“The size of this project taught me how fulfilling it can be to contribute to something bigger than myself,” said portfolio student Hanna Hurst. “Ms. Hill and Ms. Green trusted each of us, and that trust helped us grow.”
Art student Sebastian Real, who worked on ceramic plant elements and sky tiles, shared, “This project helped me improve my collaboration skills. It feels amazing to know I helped build something this big.”
“From this experience, I learned that creativity thrives in a supportive and collaborative space,” said Alivia Bell. She also valued learning technical skills such as cutting and gluing smalti and using tools like the ring saw and wheel nipper.
Technical skill-building was a key component of the mosaic. “Not only is this a strong portfolio piece, but the students now have professional-level tiling skills,” Hill emphasized. “They could actually get jobs using these skills and techniques.”
Second-year art student Isabella Cowardin, who helped create a red hollyhock flower for the piece, reflected on the unique nature of the process. “This process has not only taught me about working as a team but also the originality that goes into every piece of tile or glass that is placed on this mural. Every piece is a representation, a self expression of each individual working on it.”
In addition to handcrafting hundreds of ceramic pieces – flowers, leaves, bark, even a snail – in the school’s ceramics studio, the team erected special art tents on campus. Each of the eight panels was tiled within these temporary outdoor art labs.
While some mosaic tiles (tesserae) were purchased, the majority were handmade at CHS. “We mixed and glazed our own ceramic slabs, fired them, then broke them into pieces,” explained Hill. “By controlling the glazes, we could fine-tune the color palette,” added Green.
Art Portfolio student Callie Butts described the challenge of creating the ceramic slabs. “Making slabs out of ceramic was definitely a challenge for me because it didn’t really require a lot of creative ideas, but it required meticulous work and most definitely trial and error. The whole theme of this project is metamorphosis and I think that is truly what happened to my work ethic and creative mind over this term,” she said.
Reflecting on the project’s scale and impact, Hill said, “It truly takes a village. Teachers going above and beyond, an administration willing to say ‘yes,’ students dedicated to long-term collaboration, and support from people like Jill Hardman and the Coronado Schools Foundation. None of this would’ve been possible without them.”
Funding for Fragments of Change came from the Jill Hardman Endowment. Hardman, a longtime supporter of CHS arts and former owner of the Arts and Frame Gallery on Orange Avenue, passed away in 2019 and generously willed her home to the Fine Arts program in CUSD.
“Jill was an integral part of our arts community,” said Hill. “We would visit her gallery, bring students to her home to share their artwork, and sit down for tea and cookies. Her legacy lives on through projects like this.”
