A mural for Chiloquin: Students focus on the future
/Local artist asks for input designing 50-foot art piece for schoolyard project
Chiloquin eighth-grader Danny Black talks to local artist Leonard Wilder about ideas for the Chiloquin Green Schoolyard mural.
Chiloquin eighth-grader Braidyn Wright holds up a sketch with the word future.
Article by Marcia Schlottman, KCSD Public Relations.
CHILOQUIN, Ore. - When local artist Leonard Wilder asked Chiloquin Junior/Senior High School seventh- and eighth-graders to brainstorm about the future of their city, many envisioned a thriving community where people had jobs and homes and felt pride in where they lived.
Wilder, a 1965 graduate of Chiloquin, visited the school’s shop and art classes last week to get ideas for the 50-by-10-foot mural he will create as part of the Chiloquin Green Schoolyard Project. The mural will represent the past, present, and future. Art Ochoa, a 1970 graduate of Chiloquin and schoolyard project coordinator, joined him. They asked students to focus on the future.
“We’re trying to get feedback from our seventh- and eighth-graders since they were involved in the original schoolyard idea,” Ochoa said. “We want them to continue to be invested.”
Art teacher Cathy Nevala and shop teacher Rob Dunham urged students to brainstorm what they want Chiloquin to be in 100 years.
This wall at Chiloquin Elementary School will be the location of the past, present, and future mural.
“Don’t just stop at what you think can happen. What do you want to see?” Dunham asked, adding, “Let your ideas flow. Don’t hold back. Think outside the box.”
The $1.3 million schoolyard project includes a redesigned and enhanced playground area, a covered outdoor basketball court, interpretative walking paths, and community garden spaces at the elementary school. Construction started in late October.
Eighth-graders Jenna Aldred and Raina Wilson, who participated in the artistic brainstorming session, spoke in support of the project at a Klamath County School District Board of Directors two years ago.
“I think with everyone in class coming up with ideas, this mural is going to look cool,” Jenna said. “In 10 to 20 years, we want the community as a whole to be nicer, with more people accepting of change, less vandalism, and more nice things.”
