Monarch Academy, Baltimore Campus

This school’s interior was designed in collaboration with the Coldspring, Homestead, Montebello neighborhood association, (CHuM) under NS Studios. The overall theme centered around depicting the past, present and the future of this historical neighborhood that spans between Clifton Park, Herring Run Park, and Lake Montebello.

 CHuM’s mission, according to their website, is to “promote the general wellbeing and improve the overall health and quality of life within the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello community.” We sought to continue this mission within the school by creating an environment that showcased a thriving, diverse neighborhood full of opportunity. 

Cafeteria

Inside: Waverly Farmer’s Market mural. The lunch cafeteria at The Children’s Guild Monarch Academy, Baltimore Campus, in the Coldspring, Homestead, Montebello (CHUM) neighborhood. The cafeteria depicts the neighborhood Waverly Farmer’s Market to encourage the students to think about where their food comes from and to use their local resources. The project was designed by Nancy Scheinman and painted by the crew at NS Studios.

Arts Hallway

For this mural installation designed by Nancy Scheinman, we worked with the students to make mobiles out of recycled material as a nod to the famous mobile artist, Alexander Calder. The students learned about color, pattern, balance, and explored the use of recycled objects they collected over the school year. We paired that installation with a collage mural of famous African American artists from the Jazz Age, like Billie Holiday, Romare Beardan and Archibald Motley, encouraging students to make their own collages inspired by music.

 Hallway Storefronts

A series of store fronts reflecting a thriving neighborhood and local shops lines the hallways of the Baltimore Campus, designed by Nancy Scheinman and painted by the crew at NS Studios. 

Academy Brain Path

This installation was designed by Nancy Scheinman in collaboration with The Children’s Guild staff of brain-based research experts who desired to illustrate the principals behind The Guild’s curriculum, TranZed, which according to a press release,  “ integrates current research from the neurosciences into its approach to teaching, parenting, and school management…utilizing knowledge about how the brain learns naturally. ”

The work you see here was created by NS Studios and has been re-designed for multiple school locations. The trajectory of the “path” uses metaphorical imagery to illustrate the brain’s systemic actions when a child decides to eat a snack.

Stairwell of Seasons

Three stairwells at Monarch Academy are divided into the three seasons students witness when they attend school every year: Fall, Winter and Spring! The original building for The Monarch Academy in Baltimore was a Coca-Cola plant, and visitors can still see the remnants of the old architecture in the stairwells, like door openings that are permanently sealed and heavy-duty railings and ramps. To soften the look of the stairwells, The Children’s Guild asked for a bright, colorful space filled with nature that would help counter the industrial architecture.