Artist: Sheila Levrant de Bretteville
Date: 2002
Material: Ceramic tile, glass mosaic
Location: James Hillhouse High School. 480 Sherman Parkway.

Developing her project based on the tile work already installed in the entrance to Hillhouse High School, artist Sheila de Bretteville (who previously completed a Percent for Art project entitled Path of Stars in Ninth Square) chose to replace the plain white ceramic tiles with printed ceramic tiles and glass mosaic pieces. The statements printed onto ceramic tiles by students drawn over decades of the school's existence, reveal their experiences of school and education. Many of the more recent students had been taught by writer Elizabeth Alexander (author, The Venus Hottentot) and Hillhouse English teacher Ben Boulton.

According to artist deBretteville, the intent of this project was to "enhance the life and work of everyone at Hillhouse High School, warmly welcoming all who come here now and in the future, enabling each to know where they are and something about who is here now and has been here before." Bright yellow paint called "golden nectar"also replaced the white walls above the frieze and was intended to create a bright, warm entryway.

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