A group of sixth graders at Naperville School District 203’s Kennedy Junior High School dove into a special mural project that shows off their art skills while sharing an important environmental message.
Mural created as part of Wyland National Art Challenge
They decided to take part in the Wyland National Art Challenge, which encourages students to create a piece of artwork centered around the idea of conservation.
“I really love art and I’ve done a lot of work in plastic and water conservation, so I thought that this would be really suited for me, and I found a group of girls who also thought it would be good for them, so we did it,” said Kennedy Junior High Student Astha Savalia.
Astha banded together with classmates Olivia, Adeline, and Corrine for the creation of a five-foot by ten-foot mural now featured in a hallway at their school.
“So we started off like thinking of ideas and themes that we could use for the mural, and then sketching it out. And then we started like spray painting it, and then we started outlining the different animals and seaweed and like plastic, and then we colored it in,” said mural artist, Corinne Reckamp.
Message of students’ mural: “Save our Waters”
The mural, themed “Save our Waters,” shows an underwater scene with marine life and many sea creatures like fish, sea turtles, jellyfish, squids, crabs, and seahorses. Paintings of plastic were added to spread the word about the dangers sea creatures face.
The Wyland Foundation, a nonprofit committed to preserving the world’s waterways, is behind the competition, and helped pitch in for the project.
“We received a, the material for the mural, we received that from the Wyland Foundation. So we got that free…they gifted it to us,” said Kennedy Junior High Art Teacher Chuck Hoff. “And then the second thing was they had a stack full of drawings that they were able to come together and kind of have an idea where they wanted to go.”
Two months of work went into project
The four girls started on the mural on October 1, putting in both before and after-school hours in the art room plus some extra time at home.
“We were supposed to be able to finish it by December 1, so we were definitely cutting it close and we did not expect it to get this long. But we also added more than what we thought we would originally add, and it looks way better than any of us would have expected it to,” said mural artist Olivia Stubbs.
Classroom art supplies to be awarded to winners
There will be three winners chosen for the mural competition, with each receiving $500 in classroom art supplies. But no matter the outcome, the students are proud of their creation and hope it makes others take note, helping them reflect on their impact on the environment.
“Maybe they could make the connection, like we can reduce the amount of plastics in our ocean so that it stops making this kind of negative impact, and rather, like that could be one less plastic bottle,” said Savalia.
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