Sophomore Rita Watson has a big idea.
She is going to cover one side of the Emmorton Recreation Center with a four paneled painted mural.
“Everything will be painted on four big wooden boards. Each board has one image on it. We will project the images on the boards and paint over the image. Each board is about four by eight feet. Each board will be mounted on to the side of the building. We will be using outdoor paint so it will stay on for a while without fading,” Watson said.
Watson has already created a digital image of what she envisions the mural to look like and is also planning on involving the National Honors Art Society with this project. Many members from it will be helping to paint the mural. Studio art teacher Bruno Baran is also acting as a mentor for her during this process.
“I think it is a great project for her [Watson] as a young lady. Service wise, it’s great for her Art Honors Society service hours and other service hours,” Baran said.
Watson’s project, however, is not for school. “Well, I’m in Girl Scouts and it’s for my Gold Award project… Since I’m into art, I wanted to do something with that,” Watson said.
A Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn, and a Girl Scout earns this award by taking initiative to complete a project to better a local or global community and meeting specific requirements outlined by the Girl Scouts program.
The concept for the images on the mural “expresses what goes on inside the building, like what sports are played there.”
“I’ll be presenting it [the image of the finalized design] to the Emmorton Recreation Center Committee to make sure they approve of the idea. If they do approve, they’ll have people help us put the mural up and take care of keeping it in good shape,” Watson said.
By doing this, Watson hopes “…to gain an experience of helping others, using my talents, and putting them to good use.”
According to Watson, the project will be completed in her junior year.
Grace Kim is the Online Chief for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.