There have been a lot of big changes in my life these past few years. Three years ago, I decided to go back to school to get my masters in teaching from Tusculum University with the hopes of becoming a full time art teacher. Two months into that two year program I was offered a position teaching art at Ritta Elementary in Knoxville. Then after teaching there for 3 semesters and graduating from TU, my sweetheart and I moved to Memphis in the summer of 2023 for a job offer they had received there and I began teaching at a new school in Memphis that fall. But before I left Ritta, I wanted to leave them with a little memento and leave it a little better than I found it.
My first day at Ritta, I noticed this wall of the neighbor’s building that faced the side of the school. In spite of the thick undergrowth that covered it, I knew that cinder block wall would be a great location for a mural. So after my first semester, I suggested the idea to my administrators and they were immediately on board with the idea as was our neighbor, Jerry Tipton. When I got back to school after summer break that year, I began to clear away all the shrubbery and over the school year I started transforming the space into a workable canvas. That involved not just removing the undergrowth but patching cracks in the wall, pressure washing it, and finally coating the whole thing with primer so that it was finally in a good state to take on some paint. (No matter the project, the prep work is always what takes the longest!) I was doing all that by myself while being a first year art teacher so I wasn’t even ready to begin painting until that next spring.
I had the idea for a wide angle view of the world with the earth, sea, and space as the setting for my students to populate with their own drawings that I would then recreate and enlarge. After a lesson on murals, I pitched the idea to all my students and had them draw out their ideas. Pretty soon I had a big stack of work to pull from and it proved to be even more than I would have time for. This mural contains the works of over 40 young artists ranging from Kindergarten to 5th grader (6 - 11 yo). I worked on this mural up until my very last days in Knoxville in the summer of 2023 until I had to leave to begin my new chapter in Memphis. I was proud to be a part of the Ritta family and proud of my students whose imagination brought this mural to life.
Many thanks to the other people that made this possible including my principal Shawnda Ernst who came up with the central tagline (the mascot is the Rangers fyi), our neighbor Jerry Tipton who gave me permission to paint his building, and Ken Bronson a talented woodworker who works in the building and loaned me equipment like a pressure washer and a ladder to bring the wall up to shape. There were also three organizations that pitched in and made the painting of this mural possible through material donations.
The Farrell-Calhoun paint company donated all the primer and base coats that I used to paint the background and as I a sign painter I really appreciated not just their generosity but the quality of their products. Their paints have great coverage and color saturation. I’d recommend them for any painting projects you might have.
Flat Can Recycling came through by donating all the spray cans I needed to recreate my students’ drawings. FCR is a great nonprofit dedicated to keeping aerosols and other harmful household products out of landfills by reusing and recycling what they can.
The Tomato Head restaurant gave a generous donation to this project as well that allowed me to cover the expenses for all the other material needs I had. Without these three contributors, this project would not have happened.
Thanks to everyone who contributed and to you for reading. Check out the results below including the students’ original works and a timelapse of the transformation of the wall.
Before
