CMU students take painting talents on the road for Beaverton Primary School mural
Students of Beaverton Primary School in Beaverton were skeptical when they were first told to paint on the wall.
The students were given brushes and the chance to make handprints as part of a project with registered student organization National Art Educators Association at Central Michigan University on Jan. 6.
“Our first day, when we were painting, the kids would come up to us and say ‘Does (Principal Ronnie) Morley know you’re painting on the wall right now?’” said NAEA Co-President Amanda Anderson, a Lansing senior. “I think it’s something they’re definitely going to remember.”
Nathan Sutton, a Prudenville senior and the group’s vice president, designed the murals which they marked on the wall before asking students to help, Anderson said.
The group worked with 381 students at the Beaverton school over three days in half-hour shifts. The students would paint part of one mural and put their hand prints on another, she said.
“Even the day we did it, they were coming in with their mom and saying ‘Look, I painted this,’” Sutton said. “I think it’s really important we can create these opportunities for kids.”
The school does not have an art program so it was the first time many had been exposed to paint, said Lansing senior Katie Clark, NAEA secretary. It gave students exposure to something they were not yet comfortable with.
There are plans to do another mural in the gym, though the group has not set a date to finish it, Sutton said.
Anderson said the group’s advisor, faculty member Ralph Hullender, was approached by Morley. He suggested they apply for the grant which funded the project, a $200 Creative Endeavors Project Grant.
“It taught us how to paint a mural later on,” said Co-President Lauren Synowiec, Livonia senior. “Next time we do it in our own school, it would only be one of us.”
The group tries to do many projects which give back to the community through different types of art, Synowiec said.
Sutton said members of the group teach classes at Art Reach of Mid Michigan, 111 E. Broadway St. They also are helping design banners for this year’s Student Michigan Education Association conference.
“We do a lot of … service learning, where we’re giving people skills and the final product will benefit local schools,” Clark said.
