Echoes From the Gap | Butterflies in the Hallway

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The Ed Trust web series, Echoes From the Gap, puts front and center the stories of students. These are the young people behind the numbers we look at in our districts, offices, and states, those whose lives are deeply affected by — even determined by — their educational experiences. “Butterflies in the Hallway” was a piece about the slow disengagement of a student, and the distant many teachers and counselors unintentionally create.

Listening to the writers Brooke Haycock and Christina Theokas, a couple of things were mentioned. The first was a “process of disengagement,” and “bright spots and dark spots” within the system. I wondered what that would look like.

The goal is to set a tone of slow isolation and be as abstract in its rendering. I wanted the artwork to render well, but I also want it to be subtle and set a tone of slow isolation.

As Brooke was heavily influenced by The Hungry Caterpillar, I also wanting to incorporate hand-drawn elements of paint strokes and illustration in the artwork. I drew some circles and a cocoon that slowly wilts instead of turning into a butterfly.

“I have worked at the Education Trust, where Sela leads our design work, for almost 15 years. In the years she has been with us, she has masterfully transformed our visual brand and presence and lent powerful illustration to critical issues surrounding educational justice. I have been beyond fortunate to collaborate directly with Sela for over a year on Echoes from the Gap, an online narrative series focused on the stories of students. I have watched her, through her work, bring life to words on the page and the experiences of young people. An avid student and unquestionable master of her craft drawing from broad influences, she sees to the core of the issues and human narratives and transforms them into powerful visual experiences. In our time working together, she has dramatically evolved not just my written narrative work, but my notions of what is possible in story-telling and the visual manifestation of advocacy.”

Brooke Haycock
Senior Playwright-Researcher
The Education Trust