The huge mural that now graces the east wall of Hillsboro High School isn’t just a work of art. It’s a point of pride for the community, according to district officials.
Kenzie Wolk, 38, of Ste. Genevieve, was commissioned to create the mural, 174 feet wide by 27 feet tall, and finished the Herculean task in less than two weeks from late August to mid-September.
“It’s the largest I’ve done,” she said. “I’ve used more paint on others that I’ve done, but this one wasn’t filled edge to edge with paint. I think it took me 10 days to do it.”
Artist Kenzie Wolk poses with the completed mural.
Wolk went on to work on a smaller mural, but one with more detail, in Schneider Park at Main and Mill streets in Festus. She said she’s now working on a mural in Perryville.
Scott Readnour, Hillsboro R-3 district’s community relations coordinator, lauded the finished mural at Hillsboro High.
“She did a great job, especially getting it done so fast. It’s monstrous. You don’t really think about the scope of it until you get in front of it and see it. But this already has been a source of pride, not only for our school district, but for our entire community.”
Readnour said he’s heard several comments about the mural.
“Almost everybody I’ve talked to about this mural had the same thought as I did,” he said. “How did we go 20 years with this wall with nothing on it?”
Readnour said Superintendent Jon Issacson and an anonymous district benefactor decided last year to remedy that situation.
“They were talking about ways to promote community pride, and that wall came up as a possibility,” he said. “Someone mentioned that Mrs. Wolk was doing other murals in the area and they were good, so we contacted her.”
Wolk designed the mural, which district officials approved, and then she got to work.
She said the massive size presented some challenges.
“I’ve worked on lifts (to paint murals) before, and scaffolding, too, although I like lifts better because of the versatility,” she said. “But I noticed that the area was made up of 3-foot vertical panels, so once we agreed on the design, I gridded it out so that I knew what was going on each panel. Then, before I started, I numbered each panel in chalk. It’s easy to get lost up on the lift when you’re that close. It was different, getting the design on my phone onto 58 different panels on an area half a football field wide.”
Wolk said the cost of the labor, materials and rental of the lift brought the price tag to about $6,000.
“We did not use district funds for anything involving the mural,” Readnour said. “The anonymous donor worked with the Hillsboro R-3 Public Schools Foundation to make sure all costs were covered.”
Readnour said the Foundation was started about 15 years ago to support the school district, but some of the initial leaders of the group have stepped back, and it is undergoing a revival under new guidance.
“(Wolk) did a great job, and equally impressive is that she would take the time to come down from the lift to talk with our art classes. So in addition to promoting community pride, she’s also inspiring other artists.”
Wolk said she particularly enjoyed interacting with the students.
“That was fun,” she said. “When I was young, I didn’t get a lot of opportunities to speak with artists. They asked a lot of questions. I hope I inspired them.”
Wolk said now that she’s gotten some distance from her creation, she can appreciate it.
“After I’m done, I always feel like I could have done better, done this, done that,” she said. “I’m my own worst critic. But once I go back a couple of weeks later, I can say to myself, ‘Well done.’”
Hillsboro High Principal Mark Groner also said the mural is a work well done.
“Kenzie Wolk has transformed the look of the exterior of Hillsboro High School,” he said. “Visitors to our campus are treated to an impressive work of art that exemplifies the pride that we have for our school.”
Readnour said pride is the feature of the mural he likes best.
“That’s the thing I love about being here,” he said. “The school district is proud of the community, and the community takes pride in the school district. She plugged into that. This mural is a huge point of pride for all of us. It reveals something about who we are and that we’re proud of where we come from.”