Metro students create community art

Maddison Moeller expected a standard art class when she signed up for Molly Sofranko's art class at Metro High School.

Instead, Moeller and 13 of her classmates created community art for their neighbors in the Oak Hill Jackson neighborhood.

“I love it,” said Moeller, a junior. “It was hard work.”

In six weeks, the students turned a blank wall on the Society of St. Vincent de Paul's Cedar Rapids thrift store into a mural depicting an idyllic day in the neighborhood. It was the first time Sofranko had ever participated in such a project, and she said she “over-researched” in order to be prepared.

“I was really nervous about it,” said the art teacher, who had initially attempted the project in the spring before realizing her class would need more time. “The hardest part was definitely conceptualizing it. We tried the best we could to have everyone involved in every part of the process.”

A Paint Iowa Beautiful grant and contributions from Diamond Vogel, as well as donations from members of the St. Vincent de Paul charity, helped students complete the project in mid-October.

The students used the school's iPads to take photos of the neighborhood surrounding the store and trace the images for the mural. They spent two class periods each day working on the painting and got positive feedback from community members before the project was complete. Passers-by would honk their horns and even shout affirming words to the young artists.

“It's nice to hear compliments from other people on how well we've done,” said Justine Dewitt, Metro junior who helped create the mural.

As students told it, the community isn't the only beneficiary of their hard work.

The thing Sofranko most wanted to pass on to students was a sense of collaboration.

“I hope they learned how to play nice together,” she said. “The teamwork was a huge part of it … (and) just connecting them to their community.”

For Brittney Arsenault, a senior who is new to Cedar Rapids and began attending Metro after the school year had started, the experience helped her form bonds with her new peers.

“Everyone let me participate even though I didn't know what I was doing,” she said. “It just felt like I've been here the whole year … They're pretty much the only people I talk to, but I know them pretty well.”

Sofranko said representatives from other local organizations have already contacted her about having students beautify their spaces. She's open to doing it annually, especially if it's another service-learning project. She'd also welcome the opportunity to share the experience with younger students, perhaps at an elementary school.

One of those offers came from Jim Zachar, president of the Cedar Rapids St. Vincent de Paul Society.

“Metro High School has done a great job and has created a mural, in a short time, that represents many aspects of our local community,” he wrote in an email to The Gazette. “We are so happy with the way this mural has turned out that we hope in the spring we can have (the students) enlarge the mural on each side.”