Jaffrey Grade School Art teacher Mary Goldthwaite hands off panels of student artwork to artist Christopher Myott for framing. Credit: Courtesy 
Fireworks created on scratchboards by Jaffrey Grade School students. Credit: Courtesy 
Fireworks created on scratchboards by Jaffrey Grade School students. Credit: Courtesy 
Fireworks created on scratchboards by Jaffrey Grade School students. Credit: Courtesy 
Fireworks created on scratchboards by Jaffrey Grade School students. Credit: Courtesy 
Individual squares decorated by Jaffrey Grade School students, before being coated with black paint. Credit: Courtesy
During Jaffrey Grade School’s final day of school, the school’s community meeting ended on a special note: the unveiling of two completed community art pieces, contributed to by every student, staff member, and community artist Christopher Myott.
The pieces, a mosaic of fireworks colorfully exploding across dark skies, will become permanent art installations at the school.
It was a project led by art teacher Mary Goldthwaite and Myott. Myott and Goldthwaite, who have been friends for many years, have collaborated before — in Goldthwaite’s first year teaching at JGS, Myott visited the school to work on a project with the third grade, making paintings of their cherished childhood objects for a show at the Jaffrey Civic Center.
This year, Myott returned for an even bigger project — one that involved the entire JGS community, students and staff.
“It’s been really special to bring him in and connect him with learners at JGS and for them to see someone in their neighborhood who makes a living with their artwork,” Goldthwaite said.
It’s an important message for Myott, too. A Jaffrey native, he himself attended JGS.
“This is where I went to school,” Myott said. “I want them to know there are artists in their community. It’s something you could actually be; it’s a real thing.”
The project was inspired by a series of works done by Myott on fireworks. Inspiration for the series sparked from a previous series Myott did on Mount Monadnock. The series was inspired by Japanese ukiyo-e (woodblock print) artist Hokusai’s landscape prints, which all include Mount Fuji from different perspectives. Having grown up in the shadow of his own famous mountain, Myott’s series takes the same approach to depicting Mount Monadnock.
The fireworks project was similarly inspired by Japanese woodblock prints, and the hometown connection, as Jaffrey was once home to the annual Festival of Fireworks. The festival, held every August at the Jaffrey Airfield, drew tens of thousands of visitors every year.
“These depictions of fireworks were really exciting to me, because it reminded me of Jaffrey, of my hometown,” Myott said.
Myott’s work often involves creating layers of oil paint and wax and carving into it to reveal the layers underneath. The project with JGS uses a similar style by having students create their own scratchboards. Students colored squares of paper using crayons and acrylics. The paper was painted over with a mixture of black paint and dish soap to create scratchboards, and students carved away the black paint to reveal the color underneath.
Every student, from preschool to fifth grade, made two scratchboards, one to keep and one to contribute to the project.
Myott framed the completed artworks as a mosaic and returned to JGS on June 18, for the last day of school, to present the artworks for display.