Art Club Mural


Sometimes great opportunities come knocking on your door and no matter how busy you are, you can't turn it down.  The mural opportunity was just one of those situations!  

Summer Lawrence, 8th grade Hester student and long time art club member was asked about painting a mural on the exterior wall of the Midas in Franklin Park located at 2611 S Mannheim, but wanted to share the wonderful opportunity with her art club friends.   The Midas wanted a mural that represented the surrounding community, so Ms. Zill presented the topic to the art club students and asked them to submit drawings.  Ms. Zill received several great drawings from her students and they all had great elements, so she worked to use a little bit of each drawing and combined it into one composition.  

After hours of scheduling discussion the plan was set in motion!  Ms. Zill went to the Midas on a Saturday morning to sketch the outline of the mural to prepare for the students.  

Here's what the wall looked like with only the outline: 


Now came the hard part - how do I take a group of 70 awesome students and select only a few to join us for this great opportunity?  Students had to submit their permission slip along with an essay explaining how they would positively contribute to the group during the trip and natural selection did the rest - I had exactly as many students submit the required materials as I had spots!

The day of the trip we couldn't have been blessed with better weather!  It was a gorgeous day outside!  We headed over to the Midas with lots of supplies and set out to work.  We started by having a group huddle and discussing paint technique as well as brainstormed colors and process.  You may think that Ms. Zill decided how the colors were chosen, but that is far from the truth.  Any student that wasn't on a ladder or spotting someone on a ladder would be called to "bring it in" for a huddle and the kids would suggest options and then vote.  The students did a great job listening to one another suggest ideas and were also respectful towards one another.







At lunchtime, Midas' vendor, NAPA auto parts came out and grilled hot dogs for all the kids.  The kids worked up quite an appetite!  The mayor stopped by to check out the great work and talk to the students about this great opportunity.  Hester's principal, Mr. Trotter and superintendent, Dr. Katzin also dropped in to check out the fun.  We also had visitors from the Leyden Community Center and parents and friends come by and encourage the kids.  David Pollard from the Pioneer Press stopped by and talked with the kids and wrote up a nice article too - check that out here.  We aren't quite finished, but as soon as the weather and schedule allows, we will be back out there to finish it up!  Here's a few more pictures until then: 








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