• About LEAP

    It makes me very happy to share LEAP with the Wiley Elementary School Community.  Both of my sons attended kindergarten through fifth grade here and I have warm memories of that time.  

    LEAP was made by painting both sides of sheets of Tyvek, a material used to wrap houses under construction.  Shapes were cut out of several sheets and interlaced to make a composition.

    It took about 3 months to make and I finished LEAP in August 2020.  It hung in the Village District Public Library until January 2021 before being installed at Wiley in late December 2021.

    I call it LEAP because in many ways I was jumping into the unknown.  It was the largest piece I ever made, the first to hang in space and I had never before made three panels meant to hang together.

    I used to weave on a floor loom but I changed to weaving with my hands because there are so many new possibilities for combining colors and patterns to make a complex and unusual structure.  I learn so much working this way, and that excitement inspires me.

    I hope LEAP will spark lots of questions and ideas.  There are no right or wrong ways to think about it.  I will simply say I love looking at colors and patterns in light striking water, tree forms, architecture and many other structures found in natural and human-built environments.  In LEAP, the many shades of green on one side mean growth and many different colors on the other side come together to create unity.  What do you see?

    Many people made it possible to hang LEAP in this space.  My thanks go to 
    Former Principal, Leslie Taylor
    Art Teacher, Delaney O'Connell
    Lead Secretary, Ann Coventry
    Building Architect, Mete Gurel
    WCPSS Facilities Department
    PGA Construction Company
    and
    The Wiley PTA for paying for the installation

    Ann Roth
    January 3, 2022
    www.ann-roth.com