Herculaneum High School students transformed calamity into artwork at MRV Banks.
On Nov. 10, a driver crashed into the front of MRV Banks, damaging the front of the building. Due to the damage, two layers of plywood were applied to the building, one on the outside and one on the inside.
With the plywood in place, Dan Abts, MRV Banks market president, said he and his staff missed the view from the front window.
“We needed something to decorate (the wall),” Abts said. “We were going to be doing some expanding and these (plywood) walls would probably be up for a few months or longer.”
Abts said MRV Banks reached out to the Dunklin district and Superintendent Clint Freeman in hopes of finding a solution.
“(Abts) reached out to me through Rotary (Club); we both attend together,” Freeman said. “(Abts) said, ‘Hey, we’re kind of tired of looking at this plain plywood. Would any of your art students be interested in coming over and doing some mural work?”
Freeman then gave Abts the contact information to Herculaneum High School art teacher Christine Tipton.
She reached out to Abts and “talked about what he was looking for and what the timeline would look like. I didn’t want to do a traditional mural, because those can take quite a bit longer. So, I had the thought that each student would do something individual.”
Once Abts was on board, Tipton said she took a few class periods to work with students in her drawing and mixed media class, which has 11 students.
The students were given the possible dimensions for their painting which could be at minimum 2 by 2 feet or maximum 4 by 6 feet.
Tipton and some students volunteered to help with the priming of the wall. She then scheduled a half day of school for the students so they could take a field trip to the bank and begin sketching and blocking color for their paintings. After the preparation day, she scheduled a full day for students to start working on their paintings.
Tipton said this type of project was very new to the students.
“It made me a little bit nervous,” she said. “We’ve done murals before but more like big scale murals where they work together... I think it really helped (the students) that (the project) was broken down into steps and have specific deadlines given.”
Students were not graded on their work; however, Tipton said this project served as experience for the students.
Abts said the artwork was impressive.
“The kids really did a great job,” he said. “It’s a wide variety of (artwork) … I’m very impressed with their creativity.”
Before the plywood is removed, Abts said the bank is planning an event where the community can observe the artwork.
“We are looking at actually having a reception one evening … but we would do it after hours, so people who are working nine to five would be able to stop by,” he said. “Especially (for) the parents or friends (of the students) who might want to come in, but also anybody in the public who would like to come by.”
No date is set for the reception, but Abts said they plan to hold it sometime in the next few months. The reception would offer refreshments and food.
Abts said they plan to have a contractor cut out the paintings as the project progresses so the students may keep their work.
“We can actually cut them out and give them to the students, so they have them as a finished product,” he said. “I think it’ll be nice that they’ll be able to have those forever, if they’d like.”
To view the artwork, visit MRV Banks at 1319 N. Truman Blvd. in Festus.