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Mostly Cloudy Leaving her mark in Lawrence
Morgan Roslyn’s mural encourages youngsters to read
Lawrence resident Morgan Roslyn returned to her elementary school on May 28 to unveil a mural she painted of three children reading books together, with a slogan, “Today a reader; tomorrow a leader,” which is meant to inspire kids to read and learn.
Ann Pedersen, Lawrence’s deputy superintendent, remembered when Roslyn attended the Number Four School, and was thrilled to accommodate her community service request. “Her mom contacted me and asked if she could help at the school that gave her the start to her educational journey,” said Pedersen, who now also serves as principal of the elementary school. “The result is a beautiful mural celebrating our school’s diversity.”
Roslyn, 17, attended the school in Inwood in the Lawrence School District for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. Now a graduating senior at Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls in Hewlett, she will be attending Cooper Union in New York City in the fall to study art. The mural was created to fulfill her community service commitment for SKA.
“She wanted to do something to build her resume,” said Gila Roslyn, Morgan’s mother. “I thought, why shouldn’t she do something in her field? Art therapy or art education, something for children, that’s how she came up with the idea for creating the mural and its theme.”
In creating the mural, Roslyn’s goal was to “make everything look so vivid and lifelike, as though literally popping off the page or canvas,” she said. “In creating my art, I prefer plain graphite the most, though my most remarkable pieces were made with just a lead pencil.”
Roslyn also assisted David Lichtenstein, the art teacher at the Number Four School, in his classes. “She’s just a phenomenal artist and person, “ Lichtenstein said. The people in the mural look as though they are popping off the walls.”
Roslyn hopes that her mural’s message stands the test of time. “I simply aspire, to inspire others to great art because art really does allow you to create things you simply cannot create with words or anything else,” she said.
