Artist: Elizabeth McDonald
Date: 2001
Material: Ceramic tile
Location: Auditorium, Wilbur Cross High School. 181 Mitchell Drive.

Wilbur Cross High School sits at the base of New Haven's prominent geological feature,: East Rock, a vertical red-faced trap rock ridge that rises 365 feet above sea level. Not surprisingly, Elizabeth McDonald, chose the beloved face of East Rock as her subject for a series of five mosaic panels. Like an Impressionist, McDonald finds continual interest in her subject due to the changing effects of light (seasonal and temporal) on the rock.

Described as "painterly" due to the soft effect the powdered pigments give to the mosaics, McDonald suggest that layering her pigments reflects the natural erosion continually occurring at East Rock. The Boston Globe has described McDonald's mosaics as "mysterious and archetypal, and the ragged edges of the tiny squares suggest something ancient."

From Bridgewater, McDonald's work can be seen in several venues in Connecticut, including tile work on the exterior of the Department of Environmental Protection in Hartford. She was awarded the Governor's Arts Award in visual art for her contributions to the "creative heritage" of the state in 1999.

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