LEWISTOWN — When Kristen Shoemaker and other students in the Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce Leadership Institute saw the new Rainbow Bridge installed near the dog park at the Kishacoquillas Park in Derry Township, they felt something was still missing.
And dog-gone it, it didn’t take them long to figure out what that was.
“We wanted to do more than just the bridge for our leadership project,” Shoemaker said, a Leadership Institute student and branch manager at Kish Bank in Lewistown. “The dog park just didn’t look inviting, so what better way to spruce it up a bit than with some color.
“We thought the mural and the rainbow colors on the bridge — after we paint it in the fall — would help with that,” Shoemaker added.
And who better to create and paint that canine-themed mural than some talented, creative art students from Mifflin County High School.
Shoemaker contacted high school art teacher Jennifer Hartzler, and asked if any students might be interested in doing a mural as part of the leadership project. Hartzler and art teacher Sara Sutton chose several students from the art class to work on the project.
“We provided the paint and supplies for the students and they created the mural and the welcome to the dog park sign,” Shoemaker said. The mural is painted on the front of the restrooms at the dog park.
Hartzler, Sutton and Aimee Parsons-Hubley, all advisors for the Mifflin County High School Art Club selected some of the club’s officers to come up with the design and complete the painting.
“We get a lot of inquiries about public art,” Sutton explained. “Often, we cannot fulfill the projects; however, for this all the conditions were ideal — students, timing, funding and location.”
Shoemaker and the other Leadership Institute students couldn’t be happier with the results, giving a shout out to students Tatum Stroup, Andi Miller, Nathan Parkes and Madison Litzinger. “You all did an amazing job!” a post on social media read, complete with photographs of the students painting as well as the finished mural.
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