New Trier student's mural now on display at Winnetka-Northfield library

The Winnetka-Northfield Public Library District is pleased to display "Alice's Adventures in Escapism," a mural created by Channing Christ, a rising senior at New Trier High School.

The mural was part of the Create Project at New Trier's Integrated Global Studies School. Students choose a topic they are passionate about, write a paper on it in first semester and, in second semester, they demonstrate their knowledge through an Action Project that must affect people outside of the IGSS community.

Christ's chosen topic was escapism, and her research was centered around the question: "Does escapism deserve its negative connotation?" She argued against it. Christ's mural is centered around how wonderful escapism through reading can be.

Christ wrote the following artist statement about the mural: In this piece I aimed to show the joys of escapism. Escapism has gained a rather negative connotation recently, it tends to be seen as the antithesis of "being in the moment," (which apparently is the key to happiness). However, this couldn't be further from the truth, escapism is human nature. All forms of entertainment humanity has ever created are forms of escapism. Without things like reading, movies, plays or your own imagination, life would become bleak and colorless, much like it is for the girl in the painting. Yet through escapism, she is able to leave her world of gray behind for a brilliant world of color. To dream of a world of color when yours is gray is not a bad thing, after all, who really wants to live in black and white