Three murals at Churchill School in Homewood got new paint and designs on Saturday, Nov. 4, thanks to art students and parents who volunteered their time.
Art teacher Anne Blue-Siegler said the murals were designed by students during Churchill’s 2018 and 2019 summer art classes. One mural depicts scenes of Homewood, another is a bold design of a beach scene influenced by artist Peter Max, and another takes a comic book style. Words of kindness and a bulldog, Churchill’s mascot, are part of each mural.
Students drew on paper and then transferred their designs to walls outside the bathrooms in the third grade, fourth grade and fifth grade wings of the school.
The 2019 fourth grade mural wasn’t completed. Blue-Siegler said her intention was to work on it in summer 2020, but the schools shut down during the pandemic.
“Every time I walk by these, I feel like they’re a hug for the students,” the art teacher said. “They mean a lot to the kids, and they’re in a location where everyone sees them at some point.”
Since then, District 153 replaced its water fountains with a new version that allows students to refill their water bottles. The fountain switch left the murals scarred, and there are dozens of spots where the paint had chipped.
Blue-Siegler said every time she walked by the murals she would stress about how they needed help, but she knew she couldn’t do it herself. She put out a call for help and was delighted to know this long-time project would be closer to completion thanks to honors art students at Homewood-Flossmoor High School and several parents.
H-F senior Sophia Krupa, who attended Churchill School, said she was happy to give a few hours of her time. Doing anything in the arts makes her happy, and she wants to encourage the Churchill students to appreciate art of any kind.
The teacher was thankful for the efforts of her Saturday team, but there’s still much work to do.
“We just made a dent. We will have a few more mural repair sessions in the future,” Blue-Siegler said.