Tapteal Elementary School Mosaic by Melissa Singh Cole, in West Richland

Spokane-based artist Melissa Singh Cole created Tapteal Journey for Tapteal Elementary School, in West Richland, Southeastern Washington. As part of her art-making process, Cole invited every student to add mosaic tiles to smaller elements such as flowers and butterflies. She incorporated all of those pieces into the final artwork. She spent a week at the school in the spring of 2021, leading workshop for the students, with help from a Tapteal art teacher.

Tapteal Journey is made of twenty-three mosaic panels showing native plants and animals of the surrounding Yakima River ecosystem. From the school’s website, Cole learned that “tapteal” is the Yakama language word for the Yakima River: “It means ‘the river that runs clean’ or ‘where two rivers meet.’ Many years ago, the Yakima River was full of salmon, which the Native Americans scooped out of the river and dried for food and fuel. Today, it is a major source of irrigation water for the Yakima Valley farms and orchards.” Each mosaic features a species specific to the Richland area including: wildflowers, riverbank plants and animals, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, birds and insects. The mosaic pieces also focus on food webs and will hopefully be used by teachers within their lessons.

Watch the video depicting this process, which was shared during the artwork dedication in 2021: Artist & Students Share In Creating "Tapteal Journey" by RSDWashington on YouTube

Artist Melissa Singh Cole creates public art, mosaic sculptures, and mixed media paintings. Her main inspiration comes from the natural world via her scuba diving adventures and her past work as a naturalist. She is passionate about involving the public in her art process through community-built public artworks, which instill a sense of pride and ownership.

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