A mural to decorate the school. It has been produced by the students at the Vittorio Sereni Middle School, in Germignaga, under the artistic direction of their teacher, Eleonora Gritti.

The council, led by Mayor Marco Fazio, provided the materials and spaces, and the young painters got down to work, with brushes and paint.

“We chose from various pictures of panoramas from our province,” the art and image teacher explained. “The inspiration came from Sereni’s poem, ‘Terrazza’, which was painted on the internal side of the wall, and on the external side, on an area of 7 m², the 140 students from the school painted the image of the valley, with the lake and the mountain.”

 

La poesia “Terrazza”, 1941                         The poem “Terrace”, 1941

Improvvisa ci coglie la sera.                          Suddenly the evening seizes us.
Più non sai                                                        You no longer know
dove il lago finisca;                                          where the lake finishes;
un murmure soltanto                                       only a murmur
sfiora la nostra vita                                          skims over our life
sotto una pensile terrazza.                             beneath a suspended terrace.
Siamo tutti sospesi                                          We’re all hanging
a un tacito evento questa sera                       on a mute event this evening
entro quel raggio di torpediniera                   in that torpedoboat’s searchlight
che ci scruta poi gira se ne va.                      which scrutinises us then turning vanishes.

 

For about 7 years, Ms Gritti has brought her projects to every school (Here is the work in Casciago). “The first time was in 2010, at the Stein School, in Gavirate; a retired father, a former painter and decorator, offered to repaint the classrooms and we got the students involved, with unexpected results, of sharing, collaboration and commitment,” Ms Gritti explained. “With this work in Germignaga, we wanted to honour a poet who was born in these parts: a lot of people suggested views, their favourite places, always with the lake playing a leading role. And so, a lovely project was born, that people felt strongly about. We got the disabled students at the school involved, because inclusion is one of the main objectives of this kind of project. Even those who had doubts worked hard, and those who didn’t think they’d be able, in the end, did a wonderful job. It’s always like this, if you trust them, the children respond in the best of ways. I need to thank the school’s headmistress, Amedea Brignoli, who gave me carte blanche and immediately loved the idea; my colleagues, who collaborated by managing the classes, while some students were working on the murals, outside working hours, and the director of the Sereni Museum, in Luino, Barbara Colli, for her valuable help in choosing the poem.”