Schools
Mural Gives Tinley Park Art Students Chance to Show Off Skills
Four art students from Tinley Park High School have been working on a massive project since the beginning of the school year: a 275-square-foot mural at Tinley Park Auto Repair and Towing. Watch them in action and find out how the project came to be.
It's not often that high school field trips can provide students with hands-on, practical experience.
But that's been the case for four Tinley Park High School girls in an advanced placement art class who have been spending their time painting a 275-square-foot mural on the side of Tinley Park Auto Repair and Towing.
The project came about thanks to talks between Principal Theresa Nolan and the auto shop's owners, Chris and Tammy Shoemaker, said Casey Fabianski, who works with special education students at the school and who has been heading up the mural.
"For the last couple of years, they've wanted a mural for the business," Fabianski said.
Fabianski was approached to be the point person for the project because of his experience as owner of CF Design Inc., in New Lenox, a large-format digital printing company he started three years ago. Design of the mural began in July, and the students, along with art teacher Sandy Wilczynski, have done three "field trips" since mid-August to paint the mural, Fabianski said. In total, the mural, which is just about finished, has taken 200 to 250 hours to complete, he added.
"The mural tells the story of Tinley Park Auto Repair, from when it started to where they are today," Fabianski said.
The biggest challenge of the project has been not being intimidated by the size—the mural is 9 feet high and 28 feet wide—of the undertaking, Fabianski said. One way to alleviate that problem has been creating a grid that sections each part of the mural off into manageable units to paint, he added.
"I think breaking it down by 1-foot-by-1-foot boxes helped," Fabianski said.
Although there aren't any immediate plans for future murals, the Tinley Park Auto Repair owners have discussed the idea of painting a different on the wall every four years, Fabianski said.
And how have the students responded to the project?
"The girls have been very excited," Fabianski said, adding that the mural is a great way to show off their skills and send them off to college with a unique and valuable experience.
Watch the video to see the students in action, painting the mural.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
