Painting 150 feet of wall space can be tedious and time consuming. In just a week, however, 16 middle school students in the Oak Park Education Foundation BASE Camp completed a mural at the Harvey and South Avenue underpass.
Through some brainstorming and a field trip to Thatcher Woods the students, along with their instructors Lynn Reising and Jon Kristopher, picked a theme: the four seasons.
On Friday June 20, the students, their instructors and parents gathered for the mural’s grand reveal. With ice cream and snacks in hand, kids were excited in showing off their section of the wall and posed for pictures.
Two students, Lauren Raihle and Isabel Marx, both 12, said they enjoyed being able to pick what season they wanted to work on —both chose winter. They also liked being able to work with old friends while meeting new ones.
“We could really be creative,” Marx said.
Other camp activities for middle schoolers include sessions on building and designing robots, repurposing clothes, photography and creating a 4-minute film.
The nonprofit foundation has been around since 1989 and serves students at Julian and Brooks middle schools.
