Oglethorpe Elementary Has A New Artist's Flag

With two children in school at , artist Stanley Bermudez wanted to do something for the school. So, over several months, he worked on a painting to hang in the school's media center.

"It was my contribution, something the kids can enjoy for, I hope, generations to come," said Bermudez, who holds an MFA from Radford University. He teaches art and art appreciation at Gainesville State, North Georgia and the University of Georgia, and has lived in Athens with his family for six years.

On Monday, he finished the work. You can see it in the library, next to a colorful . Bermudez said he did a canvas rather than a mural so that it could be moved, if needed.

The work is an American flag, of sorts, with the school's Wildcat mascot superimposed on the stripes and yellow paw prints instead of stars--"which makes the painting more whimsical," he said. Bermudez said he had been creating large format paintings of flags, and he had a canvas ready to go. Media center director Deidre Sugiuchi got $100 from the PTA to cover the cost of paint and he provided the rest.

When he began, he placed the canvas on the school's stage in the cafeteria and painted during lunchtime. Children would come up to him "and they would ask, 'Are you an artist?' And the staff and teachers would tell me how much they liked it," he said. "I really enjoyed getting all the positive comments."