Artist: Iyaba Ibo Mandingo
Date: 2003
Material: Acrylic painted maplewood panels
Location: Truman School interior. 114 Truman Street.
The artist, Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, stated that he was positively influenced by Truman School teachers when he met with them to talk about the subject of his proposal. Their stated goals for Truman students, and the curriculum built to reach these goals, were centered on literacy and community unity. Thus, Mandingo chose as his subject themes directly imported from well-known children's classics such as Eric Foxes' Little Red Fox and Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham.
In addition, several of the panels focus on history, another subject Mandingo found important for Truman School teachers and students. Always fully integrated into these historical-based images (such as Meeting Benjamin Franklin and Historical Connecticut) are depictions of students of all colors, because "people of color ...represent American ideals and the curriculum...the community was important to incorporate ...immigrants will always have a place to grow in this community."
Mandingo, an artist originally from Antigua, was especially interested in presenting ways in which New Haven's communities work and socialize together. His mural work uses bright, flat areas of color with heavy black outlines, a style akin to comic-book art which provides the hallway in which the panels are inserted with a vibrant focus.
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