High school students paint cozy new mural for Aurora library

A new mural will soon decorate a wall of the children’s section of Aurora’s Alice M. Farr Library. The art installation being created by art students at Aurora High School iS intended to bring more color and fun to the area.
Library Director Laurel Marlatt said the idea for the mural was inspired by a meeting with the director of the Southeast Library System when he toured the library several weeks ago.
“I needed to talk through what my ideas were and he had some great ideas to add to it,” Marlatt said. “When we walked over there, I said, ‘Well, this is the children’s section,’ and he looked around and said, ‘This is the children’s section? There’s nothing really colorful.’ I said, ‘We can fix that.’”
As a way to attract more community involvement in the library, Marlatt reached out to high school art teacher Heather Amundson to talk about having art students participate in creating the mural.
“I knew they had done that in art class before and had worked on other murals around in the past,” Marlatt said. “So I contacted her and said, ‘Is there any way you would be interested?’”
She was and it didn’t take long for Amundson to recruit two of her sophomore students to design the large artwork.
“Nova Hamilton and Aubree Manka were in my 2D art class and were given a side quest to help me with the design process,” Amundson said. “I gave them a very rough composition and idea of what I was looking for. They both did a great job taking my vision and making it a reality.”
The original sketch made by Amundson is filled with woodland creatures living in a mushroom village with a dragon nearby.
“She told us a theme with the cottages, mushrooms and the berry-like theme,” Manka said. “We took that and we wanted something nice and cozy with a bunch of sleeping animals.”
“She made a reference sketch of how she wanted it to look,” Hamilton added. “We both made it and combined our sketches together to make that. We really worked together as a class to make it come together.”
Marlatt was pleased with the original sketch, but made one comment regarding the dragon.
“The dragon was awake and he was kind of leaning over this rabbit that was there,” Marlatt said. “I responded, ‘It’s okay as long as the dragon doesn’t look hungry. We’re all friends in the library.’ I don’t want any kid to be worried that the dragon was going to eat any animal in the drawings.”
“I don’t know if she’s been in the library lately, but the colors that they used on the mushrooms were like the bricks (in the library),” Marlatt said. “It will go really well with the burnt-orange look in here.”
The students began working on the panels late last month and Brianna Spady, McKaya Petzoldt and Torie Johnson assisted with the painting.
“The mural was mostly being painted during my advanced and 2D art classes with select students in each,” Amundson said. “It mostly depended on where they were in their own projects as to whether they were able to paint the mural. The mural took about two weeks to complete, with it being worked on for roughly four to five hours a day.”
However, Amunson said the project did hit a few bumps along the way.
“As all creative endeavors go, it had some ups and downs,” Amundson said. “They would have a great day and then the next it could be tedious and frustrating.”
One of the artistic difference centered on the sleeping dragon.
“Mine was a traditional Chinese dragon and (Manka’s) was just a regular one,” Hamilton said. “(Amundson) took the head of my dragon and put it in on (Manka’s) party.”
“Sometimes we had to fix a few things that we didn’t agree on,” Hamilton said. “There were a lot of disagreements actually with the colors and stuff, but it did come out good.”
“I wasn’t used to a deadline, but I did get it done and then I was sick for three days,” Hamilton said. “I was really stressed about it getting done.”
The students completed the project on Friday, March 6.
“It’s part of the learning process in art,” Amundson said. “They must persevere through the times that can be frustrating so they can be rewarded with the outcome. They were all excited to see the finished piece and how it came together.”
“I love the completed mural,” Amundson said. “I like the little stories it tells. Knowing the students who designed it and how it shows their abilities and personalities is so fun.”
Marlatt was amazed by the final result.
“I’m so excited to have it in the library,” she said. “There is such talent at Aurora High School. It was a joy to work with Heather as she gladly took on this challenge.”
Both Manka and Hamilton were proud of their work on the mural, along with being able to share their work with their classmates.
“I feel like it’s a huge opportunity to get your artwork out there,” Manka said. “I’ve never had an experience where I could share my art.”
Amundson said framing was added to the mural, and it is expected to be put on display Tuesday afternoon.
“It’s a great learning experience for them to understand how planning a mural to the completion of a mural works,” Amundson said. “It’s much more than just putting paint on a board. They see the design making process, selecting the materials for the mural and why they work compared to similar materials, the transferring of the image to the boards, the color mixing, the tedious process of painting and then the final product.”
“This was out of the blue and she dropped everything and did it,” Marlatt said, noting how quickly the project was completed. “I’m just really grateful and really impressed that she wanted to work with me on it. Plus, it’s good for the kids to have something in the library. It’s good for the library to have something the community did.”