Art for everyone.
Mosaic

Works in Progress
St. Clements Church
Moonscape
Saratoga Library
Other Public Art Projects



"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us"
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


Public Art Projects

As a public art facilitator, Odyssey School of Fine Arts (OSFA) provides organizations, agencies, and schools with skilled artistic leaders and the professional management needed to produce community landmarks - permanent, safe, meaningful, and beautiful mosaics, sculptures, and seating.             

OSFA designs projects to meet the social and cultural goals of each client. Community dialogues, design sessions, visual research, oral histories, and problem solving sessions encourage communication and develop skills in working together. Specific images can be chosen through a community ‘in reach’ process, coordinated with town historical societies, local archives and area school districts. Participants attending workshops prepare sections of the mosaic by placing pieces of colored glass onto the design. These sections are then installed on site in a prepared concrete slab or wall to create the finished product.

ClassesCreating something new, to cause something to become from nothing is a powerful and exhilarating experience.  In a way, we are all creating constantly--we are aroused by our own ideas of what we will do every day we wake up.  With every step we occupy a new time and space never encountered before.  Our ‘way of seeing’ depends on our perception.  For most of us, the structure of our daily activities, our schools and our jobs, carry a repetitive quality to them, and can begin to be perceived as being mundane or boring.  Whether it is a necessary evil inherent in organizational and systematic thought or not, satisfaction in our schools, with our jobs, or in the marketplace, seems to have the attention today of organizations and companies concerned with having a desirable outcome. (Waterman, 1994)
        
Accomplished teachers reach beyond the classroom to work creatively and cooperatively with colleagues, and the community.  With colleagues, they strive to improve school-wide curriculum and instruction and to bolster the teaching of the entire faculty.  In the community, accomplished teachers take advantage of resources and area professionals to enrich and supplement student learning. 
        
Authentic situations or ‘projects’ exist everywhere but are invisible to many.  For the person that sees creatively; for the teachers who see themselves not as mere workers in an institutional setting, but as designers of their own teachings and  leaders of their domain, meaningful experiences are everywhere.
        
Dennis R. Brophy in reviewing research examining the nature of creative problem solving holds the following definition: The artistic process is the process of “seeking original ways to reach a goal when the means to do so are not apparent, and involves a multifaceted process with many stages, uses and variations”. Extending his research Brophy found that divergent and convergent thought are needed along with thinking that entails ideation and innovation or more adaptation and evaluation (Brophy 1998).
        
The creative process is linked to the unexpected.  There in lies the magic!  The mosaic is an attractive medium for the teacher, student, and the community.  Although the process demands time, patience and continuous assessment in order to complete, placing hundreds of pieces of colored glass into a design brings an aura of satisfaction to the space.  Balancing the struggle with ambiguity, complexity, and unpredictability is integral with an authentic art project and is an effective way to provide excitement and real learning in the community or school. 

Create a meaningful experience. 
Works in Progress

A number of Public Art Projects are now in the works. Check out where Odyssey will be working next and just what we've been up to.

St. Clements Church

The St. Clements Church mosaic forms the backdrop to the baptismal font inside the main chapel. The imagery complements existing décor while focusing on the spirit of baptism. Members of the congregation, working along side the artist, executed the three panels in two week time period.
 
Moonscape

Moonscape is a statement by the artist of the relationship between man and his environment.

Saratoga Library

Stories, Legends and Tales. A terraced glass mosaic now greets visitors as they enter the Saratoga Springs Public Library.
 
Other Public Art Projects

View some of our other public art projects, including work done in Greenfield Town Park, Scotia and more.
 

These programs are funded in part by the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of ther New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), administered by the Saratoga Country Arts Council (SCAC).