On the Harroun Park trail, students and teachers transformed a plain, simple wall into a mural celebrating Sylvania.
The mural painting took place over two weeks in the summer, with the help of seven Northview and Southview students, art teachers from both schools, and even a professional artist.
The artist in question was Chris “Chilly” Rodriguez. He is a Toledo-based mural artist, and helped with the setup and tracing of the mural using his projector.
“This is the third large-scale mural that I’ve done with students, but to get to talk to a professional muralist and to see how he works and does things differently than I might was an awesome learning experience,” art teacher Terri Seal-Roth said. However, they had to do the rest on their own.
“I think the main thing it taught me was how much planning goes into a large-scale project like a mural,” art student Audrey Addington said. “It was cool to get to see every step of the process from tracing the design on the wall, doing a base layer of paint, then doing all the fine details and getting to see it all come together.”
The full process took two weeks, with students working from 9 am to 3 pm on the weekdays. It was commissioned by the City of Sylvania and the Arts Commision. Not only did the students who worked on the mural get to experience what a career in art could look like, they were also paid for their time spent painting.
“People were so appreciative. They loved the fact that something beautiful was going up on the wall,” Mrs. Seal-Roth said. When a family walked by, she let them grab a few brushes and help paint the wall.
“I would say the best part of the process was the last day where after two weeks we were finally done and got to just admire our work,” Addington said.
In addition to the already-painted mural, the art department has a plan for another one on the trail. In a few years, this opportunity will open up again for students, and the community will be changed once again.
“Our lives are so much richer because of the murals, the art fairs, the galleries, and the First Friday events that are all part of the Sylvania Arts scene,” Mrs. Seal-Roth said.
