Hartley, being an artist herself, knew the importance of art in education. That’s why she invited celebrated muralist David Kinker to help create a realistic portrait of the school and its surrounding land.
“I’m promoting the process,” Kinker said as students stop to admire his work in progress.
Young children might have a problem in contributing valuable input to a realistic portrait of a building and a landscape, but that doesn’t stop Kinker from inviting them to try. In the land around the school, all students at Bonanza have been instructed to paint anything — absolutely anything that strikes their fancy.
“The kids are so thirsty for this,” reading teacher Kimberly Otto said of the project. Since the school hasn’t had an art program for a decade, each class gets “creative time” to devote to studying the arts. Most classes have been allocating that time to painting with Kinker on the mural.
In the end, Kinker will lightly paint over the children’s contributions, making them appear like shadows over the grass. But all the students will know that they had a hand in bringing art back to Bonanza.
Mural painting is a great way to get involved — or involve a slice of a community to beautify a location while educating participants. Take a class on murals today to start learning the mechanics of how to plan, organize, and execute beautiful and meaningful murals today.