Amber Robles-Gordon

 For Ida B. Wells and Coolidge

Public Art Installation

The intention of this commissioned artwork by the Department of Services is to collaboratively celebrate Coolidge High School and the life of Ida B. Wells. Wells was a journalist, educator, and a contributing leader to the civil right movement.

As part of the renovation of Coolidge Senior High School, a fully modernized Ida B. Wells Middle School is being added to the Coolidge Campus. Coolidge Senior High School academic programs are divided into four areas: Early College Academy, Mass Media Program, NAF Academy of Health Sciences and the Ninth Grade Academy. These programs will specialize in health, science, and mass-media educational objectives. Ida B. Wells Middle School will include dedicated instructional spaces for art, choir, band, health, and a science lab. 

Due to the aforementioned specific areas of concentration the overall design of the public artwork features imagery of Ida B, Wells, a sundial, and a range of information regarding science, technology, engineering, and math. An additional objective of the public art mural is to depict the increasing levels of information and knowledge of the natural world that students gain as they matriculate through middle and then high school.