Interactive Mural Brings Sidewalk To Life At Vienna School

VIENNA, VA — At Cunningham Park Elementary School, children no longer have to just walk down the sidewalk to the playground. They can hop, skip and twist through a new interactive mural on the sidewalk from the school to the playground.

The Cunningham Park Elementary PTA, school leaders and children gathered Wednesday evening to celebrate the new painted sidewalk. The mural was completed by Cunningham Park art teacher Ellen Singletary.

Assistant Principal Jonathan Kemmerer attributed the idea for painting the sidewalk to the school's children.

"This was an actual first grade idea to paint the sidewalk because they thought it was like Candyland," Kemmerer said.

Principal Katharine Le first approached the art teacher about making a sensory play-type walkway. The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to the mural planning in 2020, but the conversation was revived by the PTA after kids had returned to in-person learning.

PTA President Erica Lee became head of the PTA with a goal of doing something to build community. The school's principal mentioned the project-based learning mural as something the PTA could support.

"I know she asked her fabulous art teacher [and] she would spend her volunteer time and paint this beautiful artwork, and I had no idea what to expect," said Lee. "So I was just in constant amazement when I saw this, and so I am so excited that we're all out here to celebrate what Miss Singletary did."

The PTA provided funds for the outdoor paint, and Singletary provided volunteer time on the weekends, along with her two teenage daughters. In all, she spent 70 hours painting the mural.

"I'm just grateful to have the opportunity to paint something like this," Singletary told families. "This is the first mural that I've done."

The design of the mural takes into account the diverse student population, which Lee says ranges from kids from apartments to kids from large houses. One key part of the mural is a mermaid with a Lady Liberty crown holding a female cardinal and releasing a male cardinal. Singletary said the Lady Liberty face makes it a "welcoming mermaid," while the cardinal represents the school mascot.

Since the mural is a project-based learning effort, students in her art classes contributed designs for blocks of the walkway. Other sections of the mural include a hopscotch, dragon, roadway (including the Park Street roundabout), monarch butterflies with hidden pictures, raindrop hop, a lemon-lime twist, nature trail and more.

"The students love it. They always come in and tell me how much they love it," Singletary told Patch.

Singletary noted there has been wear and tear due to snow and ice treatments as well as use by children. That just gave the children another way to interact by drawing with sidewalk chalk.

"It turned into this cool thing where it's like, let's use sidewalk chalk and fix it," said Singletary. "We'll probably keep painting on it."