David Khalil started the class period with a hodgepodge of tiles and ended it with a mosaic wall-hanging that spelled out "Love." Third-graders at Sheehy Elementary surrounded the artist as he trimmed tiles and took turns spreading adhesive on the backs and mounting them on a wooden backing. They had to be careful, 9-year-old Jaquez Cantave said, and not put too much or too little adhesive on the tile. "Then you got to find a place," Jaquez said. "If it can't fit, he cuts them." Khalil, a Carrollwood-based mosaic artist, visited Sheehy as a guest teacher today, part of a program to get disabled students involved in the arts. The Sheehy students had learning, behavioral or emotional disabilities; other schools involved students who had physical disabilities. ...more

April 1, 2009