The Mercer Island Arts Council invites the community to a gallery opening reception for José Orantes’ “Birds in Flight” exhibition from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday in the Mercer Gallery at the Community and Event Center.

Orantes recently completed work on new mosaics at the Luther Burbank Park playground, collaborating with Island resident and artist Sandy Glass and Mercer Island elementary and middle school students. His paintings, one of which inspired one of the mosaics, will be on display from Sept. 12 to Oct. 28.

Orantes, a graduate of the National School of Art in Guatemala specializing in painting and sculpture, has led more than 50 residencies throughout Washington state since 1988. Orantes and Glass have collaborated on several artist-in-residence projects with Island students since 2006, including a mosaic project at Islander Middle School.

Orantes’ work features Mercer Island scenes created in his whimsical style, which has been described as “Urban Naïve.” During the mosaic project, Orantes found himself inspired by the students he and Glass worked with in their workshops, according to a press release from the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Department.

The mosaic installations include nearly 250 square feet of mosaic artwork in the playground area of the park. Three mosaic installations were created with local students, and the fourth is a 5 foot high by 38 foot long 10 mm glass tile mosaic created from a mural Orantes painted.

Artwork is for sale, with a percentage of the sales going to support arts and cultural programming of the Mercer Island Arts Council. The framing of Orantes’ paintings were supported by an Arts, Heritage and Preservation Grant from 4Culture.

People visiting the playground area of Luther Burbank Park have noticed the new large-scale mosaic murals installed near the playground, including “Birds in Flight,” which is created out of glass tiles that appear pixilated up close, but come together from a distance like an impressionist painting.

According to Glass, one of the joys of the project was the connection to people who saw the mural while it was being installed.

“I walk by every day and now instead of seeing the concrete, I’m watching the wall evolve into beautiful artwork,” said retired Lakeridge Elementary teacher Janice Engvall, who regularly walks through the park with her husband.

Long-time Mercer Island resident Judy Helsel said the mosaic was installed on a “plain cement wall that was begging for artwork.”

Orantes and Glass each worked for more than 120 hours to install mosaics, starting many mornings at 7 a.m. They said they were grateful for the steadfast community volunteers who helped out throughout their work in the playground.

The Luther Burbank Playground Mosaic Art Enhancement was proposed by Glass and funded by the Mercer Island Arts Council. The third through fifth grade workshops, not fully funded in the grant, received supplemental support from the Mercer Island Community Fund and also from a private donation to honor the memory of Aaron and Mickie Freed.