Painting Murals Around The Grove

In the past few weeks, Mrs. Jackson’s AP art students have taken on the new challenge of building a fun, interactive learning environment for the students here at Walnut Grove. 
​by Makenzie Bass

Mrs. Jackson’s AP art students have taken on the new challenge of building a fun, interactive learning environment for the students here at Walnut Grove. In the past few weeks, they have been working their brushes to the bone to try and create a more colorful, vibrant, safe space for students. 

Emery Brown (11) says the best part about working on the murals was “...hanging out with people and listening to music. I was able to just jam while I was painting. It was fun with a lot of people walking by and saying it looked good, while I was looking at all the blemishes, but I had fun doing it.” Hannah Kate Smith (12) had a different approach to what is good about working on them. “I use the murals as a brain break for all the other AP art assignments. Sometimes the SI can really get to your head and you just need and break while still being productive, so the murals are a good way to do that.” Rae Burton (12) adds, “It’s calming in a way. Being able to zone out and paint whatever I need to.”

Hannah Kate adds why, in her opinion, these murals became a thing “[The murals] are just to give a little bit of spirit and color to the school since some classrooms don’t always have the creative aspects that the art can bring. So maybe a little bit of color can brighten up somebody else’s day and bring a little more spirit and decoration to the school.”

The most important part of art is different for everyone. Emery Brown shares that “consistency, training, and really just practicing and putting in the effort. You can’t stop even if it’s killing you, you have to blend all these little styles and find your groove. Innately, art is problem solving.”

​Both Miles Brown (10) and Emery Brown (11) agreed that their favorite part of working on the murals was the people. 

No matter their personal style, students were able to come together to work on these murals. Whether their style is pop-artsy, non-objective, grunge, realism, or many other endless options under the umbrella of art, students and Mrs. Jackson worked incredibly hard on these, striving to try and represent something from various activities or clubs offered at WG.