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Lenihan Intermediate will unveil a student mural during a special Earth Day celebration and tree planting Wednesday, April 25, 4-5:30pm.
The idea for the project came from 14 students in Lenihan’s Extended Learning Program, who toured community art projects and decided to do one of their own. The group received a grant from the Iowa State University Extension’s Reach Out Iowa, a program to involve youth in community-based service learning projects.
The art focuses on the theme “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. About 440 students worked on the installation, decorating foil squares with images of trees and nature and messages about recycling. The squares were arranged on large panels that will eventually hang in the Lenihan Commons.
Many aspects of the project relied on recycled materials. Buildings & Grounds used extra wood to build the boards where the foil tiles are fastened. Art teacher Pam Muench used mat scraps to serve as padding behind the foil tiles as they were decorated. Even the markers used to color the tiles were made with some recycled materials.
The April 25 unveiling will include music and refreshments, followed by a tree planting in front of the school.
