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We’re heading out to Humboldt Park tonight to witness the unveiling of one formerly bland school hallway’s brand new facelift!

At Maternity BVM School, 3rd, 4th and 8th graders worked with teaching artist Bill Eller on a beautiful community-themed mural to grace the school hallway. The mural focuses on different environments that the students consider important in their community: The park (3rd grade), the neighborhood (4th grade), the school and the church (8th grade). Tonight, they’re inviting the community into the school to see their completed masterpiece.

During this semester-long project, students first sketched images from each environment. Each classroom voted on their three favorite sketches; finalists were given to the school principal, who selected the four winning designs (one for each environment). Finally, Bill and his students transferred the sketches to the school’s hallway and carefully painted every detail.

As one third grade student put it, “This mural is cool because when [the wall] is blank there’s just nothing there, and when it’s all painted, it looks awesome for everybody.”

You can check out the process as explained by students in this video by Maternity BVM art teacher Dana LoGiudice. Watch sketches turn into wall art and finally a colorful mural:

Want to see the final piece for yourself? Check out the unveiling:

Maternity BVM School, 1537 N. Lawndale Ave. Friday, December 13, 6:30pm

You can also see the young artists at work on Flickr:

Thanks to teaching artist Bill Eller, Maternity BVM art teacher Dana LoGiudice, and the Big Shoulders Fund for making this program possible!