As students began streaming back to NYC school yesterday, the lucky youngsters at PS 29, in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, were streaming through a big, bold, colorful mural to reach their classrooms.

Created by Max Miller, a New York based artist, and titled Elementary (below), the mural was funded through a grant made by A Beautiful World Foundation, a not-for-profit which seeks to place fine art and the artists who make it in public school settings. The emphasis is on contemporary artists and their ability to interact with the physical environment of the school, as well as the school community.

Jocelyn Lee of the foundation said in an email, “Max Miller is the first recipient of this grant, and he will be working with the students in the art classes in some capacity this fall. Future projects include a landscape environmental artist who will work with the science teacher and students to create site-specific living art piece, and an illustrator who will create a ‘tour of the habitats of the world’ in the stairwells of PS 29.” Ms. Lee closed by saying that the foundation plans to reach out to other public schools in NY in the near future. 

Steve Brodner wrapped up his coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night and in an email said it came to 152 pieces in all, including the RNC. Here’s a sample (below), with all 152 drawings he did for The Nation, in reverse order, on his blog. 

The last email I’ve had from Richard Johnson came Wednesday at 3 am Kabul time, as he was preparing for a helicopter flight to the Mizan Valley. The caption for his drawing of Tur-Muryani hill, in the Mizan Valley (below), belies the danger and anxiety of his attachment to the U.S. Security Force Assistance Team (SFAT), which took casualties through a run-in with an IED. His lastest account in Kandahar Journal digs into SFATs work trying to bring the Afghan National Army’s medevac and field medic skills up to speed. Read his most recent report for the National Post, Taliban Alley.

It wasn’t much of a hill really. Not by Scottish standards, anyway. But by the time we got to the top, we all were wheezing. Everyone collapsed for a while and found a rock to lean against. The view from the top was nothing short of spectacular. For 270 degrees we could see everything in both valleys. I could understand why the Taliban might contest this ground.