Everything in the World

Artist: Nancy Bowen
Date: 2005
Material: Mosaic, ceramic tile, concrete
Location: Worthington Hooker School

View on Map

Nancy Bowen’s work was intended to “showcase the many learning opportunities a student encounters while in school.” Towards this end, the artist has decorated multiple areas of the school with ceramic tiles painted with visual representations of ideas important to education. These iconic symbols are easily recognizable, and include a key, hourglass, trophy, scale and microscope.

To further reinforce the foundational concepts in the symbols, the colors chosen are bright and often from the primary color wheel with the symbols delineated in black. Remembering the City’s history the Nine Square pattern of New Haven’s original city plan borders each corner of the grid and the shield for Worthington Hooker School appears as one of the icons. Centered directly in the middle of the ceramic mural, a labyrinth was painted, which Bowen suggests represents the “journey of education, one that can be continually revisited.” The multiplicity of symbols and colors is intended to help teachers “begin a conversation about learning.”