From left, Everett Phillips, Dawson Clapp, Charlie Peterson, Demiel Rostic and Landon Diedrich are pictured with their restroom abstract mural
All photos courtesy Amy Tefft
Northview — When a renovated East Oakview Elementary welcomed students in fall 2022, art teacher Amy Tefft was excited to see what amounted to a blank canvas.
“Everything was gray: the walls, the tables, the floors,” she said. “We needed to add some color.”
Showing off their lunchroom door mural are, from left, Allie Simons, Zoe Duhon, Brianna Harig and Anabel Miranda, with Persayah Mayberry in front
From left, Dawson Clapp, Landon Diedrich, Demiel Rostic, Everett Phillips and Charlie Peterson trace an abstract mural design that is projected onto a restroom wall before it is painted
About two dozen fourth-graders answered Tefft’s call for lunchtime artists, and worked all year to create seven masterpieces they designed and painted using techniques they had learned in class.
East Oakview art teacher Amy Tefft saw blank canvases for murals all over the renovated school building
The color wheel in Amy Tefft’s art room is on an air exchanger with a magnetic surface, so the artwork doubles as a teaching tool
Charlie Peterson, left, and Teyanna Broyles show off their work-in-progress
From left, Avary Powers, Emily Doss, Lauren Novak and Elena Stelter add some tropical vibes to a classroom sink area
Soft skills practiced included teamwork and design thinking. And, oh, to watch for drips. “I got a little paint on my fingers, but not on anybody’s head,” said Lauren Novak.
Tefft said more murals are planned for next school year.
Vanessa Yonkers put some under-sea life art under a classroom sink area
Second-grader Ember Hawkins can’t resist striking a pose in front of a new, summery air exchange mural
“I wanted to give (fourth-graders) the experience of making art for other people,” she said. “They thought about what they had to work with, who they were making the art for and why, and how to make and adjust to changes; that revision process that is a lot like they do with writing.”
From left, Jeannie Reckner, Ava Lemin, Quinn Harlow, Yvonne Reyes and Mya VanProoyen with their finished mural series
From left, Yvonne Reyes, Conner McCullough, Jeannie Reckner, Quinn Harlow, Mya VanProoyen and Ava Lemin work on a series of murals for the conference room
Fourth-grade lunchtime artists with their first completed masterpiece: a color wheel mural in Amy Tefft’s art room
Morgan Jarema is a copy editor and reporter. She is a Grand Rapids native and a product of Grand Rapids Public Schools, including Brookside and West Leonard elementaries, City Middle/High School and Ottawa Hills. She found her tribe in journalism in 1997 and has never wanted to do anything but write. For 15 years she was a freelance journalist for The Grand Rapids Press, covering local schools and government, religion, business, home & garden and lifestyles. She and her husband, John, think even those without kiddos should be invested in their local schools and made to feel a part of them.
