New murals adorning Churchill School walls

The word at Churchill School is “kindness” and it is being given special emphasis thanks to the handiwork of students in the summer Mural Camp.
 

When District 153 students in Homewood start the new school year Aug. 22, they’ll find two new murals decorating the walls of the fifth grade and third grade wings of Churchill. Principal Nikki Kerr said one message will be: “One kind word can change someone’s entire day” and the other is: “If you have to choose between being right and being kind, choose kind and you’ll always be right.”
 

Art teacher Anne Siegler is offering two sessions of the weeklong Mural Camp with 15 third, fourth and fifth graders in each session. She has assistance from Homewood-Flossmoor High School senior Cori Hoekstra who volunteers as a National Honor Society student.
 

Siegler said she recognized Homewood’s art heritage through its 15 Richard Haas murals around town in the trompe l’oeil style. The kids spent a session learning about Haas and deciding what kind of mural they wanted to create. It had to incorporate words, “and the kids did their research on kindness” and selected what the messages would be, Siegler said.
 

She suggested designs in the pop art style so the murals would be colorful. 
 

“It’s fully student driven,” Kerr said. “The students pitched me the idea, as an artist would if they were painting a mural in a city or a town so it was a very thorough process. They own this project, which is something I love about it.”