In the children's storytime Room of the Merrick Library, two months of hard work on the part of Calhoun High School students have resulted in something wondrous for children of all ages to experience.
A lush painted mural, depicting various scenes and cultures throughout the world, was officially unveiled this week as part of a community service project carried out by eleven talented Calhoun art students; students that Merrick Library director, Ellen Firer, said have created a thing sure to pique the imaginations of kids for years to come.
"We decided that we wanted a mural, and we do a lot of things to offer volunteer opportunities for the high school kids," she said. "So we contacted art teacher Michael Goldberg at Calhoun and he put together a crackerjack team of artists. We discussed the concepts with them – just gave them general ideas – and they went with it and made this beautiful mural."
Goldberg said that he and his team of extraordinary students jumped at the chance to etch their own personal touches into the history of the Merrick Library.
"She brought us in, showed us the room and we jumped right on it. The opportunity to have something of this magnitude, and to make this much of an impact on the community – it was just very exciting."
Goldberg hand-picked a V.I.P. crew of students, and after a handful of meetings and prep work, as well as countless conceptual sketches, they went to work, starting a two-month creative endeavor that resulted in a living, breathing work of art for all Merrick children to enjoy.
Artist Cassidy Del Orfano, who will be starting her senior year at Calhoun in September, talked about the collective concepts behind the creation of the mural.
"The main idea is that books can take you anywhere," she said. "So we took the theme of Polaroid pictures and used them as a transition element. We figured it would be good for little kids to look up and see different places in the world and want to look up a book to find out more about the location."
Kaitlyn Moy, also starting her senior year this fall, outlined the technical aspects of bringing the mural to life.
"We sketched out a lot of different things," she said. "Then we pieced all out sketches together, and after that, we projected our sketches onto the wall, traced them, and after all sketches were traced, we went over them with acrylic paint."
The hard work the Calhoun students out into the mural not only reflects their character, Firer said, but the strong ties the Merrick Library shares with local residents.
"It shows how important the library is as part of the community," she said. "We feel that we're part of the community, and that they're part of us. So it's a mutual benefit – the students get community service and we get this wonderful mural."
http://merrick.patch.com/articles/calhoun-students-unveil-beautiful-children-s-mural-at-merrick-library
