Stairway--YRSRH Elementary School

In the course of my work on the Tefillah room, I became a sort of unofficial advisor on matters related to the refurbishment of the school.

On area that particularly bothered the principle was the top of the main stairway leading into school. It had a small corner area to the side of the door that was wasted space. She wanted to change it to make the entrance more inviting.

We thought of a small seated area, but felt that the space was too narrow.

Then we thought of putting plants there, and making it a small in-door garden. I suggested painting the walls in two or three warm adobe shades, just to provide some contrast--something like this effect:

Or this:

I thought this was settled--a nice, relatively easy way to brighten up the room. The school had to be repainted anyway, so it would not come at any extra cost.

Then the principle called me to say she had changed her mind, and would prefer to have a mural there as well... A landscape, like the back wall of the synagogue, to expand the space, and run in with the plants.

All very exciting--but it had to be finished and dried before school started--and I only got back to New York 2 days before the start of school!