SOMERSET ― The work of 18 art students from the Shanksville-Stonycreek High School is now on permanent display at the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s North Somerset Plaza .
The two-piece mural, which was unveiled May 6 at the plaza, features images and activities that make Somerset County unique, with titles of “Who We Are” and “Things to Do.”
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Among the images in “Who We Are” are references to 9-11 and the Quecreek Mine Rescue, as well as farming, the county’s historic covered bridges and a tribute to Tsuni , the baby elephant from the International Conservation Center.
Included in “Things to Do” are references to Somerset County’s maple industry, the county fair and the Fire and Ice Festival, as well as the year-round recreational activities available here.
“Each image on the murals is from an actual photo taken in Somerset County that our students collected,” said Billie Jo Miller, art teacher at Shanksville-Stonycreek School District. “We really tried to keep all the details accurate to Somerset. Everything from the specific type of barn star seen here, to the wooden maple buckets primarily used only in Somerset County.
“We have never worked on anything to this scale before, and we are excited to share a piece of Somerset County with so many people who will be (walking) through this rest stop every day.”
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Promoting the talents of student artists
This is the 14th art installation created through the Art Sparks program , a collective effort between the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to showcase the talents of local student artists at each of the turnpike’s 17 service plazas.
The state arts organization partnered with the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art to bring Art Sparks teaching artist Deb Bunnell, from Hollidaysburg, to Shanksville to work with Miller and the students over 20 days to choose the images, then design and paint the mural.
The students who worked on the mural were Mia Fairman, Myia Ferguson, Kayleigh Alongis, Rylee Boone, Riley Critchfield, Kate Lisbon, Tori Bowser, Florence Hufford, Kyleia Leasure, K Saylor, Jackson Westerfield, Haylee Critchfield, Lindsay Fraizer, Jack Keiser, Kori Boozer, Emma Ferko, Lacey Moldovan and Rachel Moon.
“They (the students) embraced the mural project,” Bunnell said. “They carefully chose their favorite things about Somerset County, looked up the references, and I think they give a really good idea of what goes on in this county.”
Bunnell said the project was also special because of her own personal connection to Somerset County. On the bottom right corner of one of the murals is a brown cow, painted in honor of her grandfather, who once operated a Brown Swiss dairy farm in the county.
“There are some excellent artists in Viking nation that I was proud to work with, and there are many more who are a lot better at painting than they thought they were,” Bunnell said. “I so appreciate their positive attitudes and their willingness to dive into this daunting project.”
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A great opportunity for a small school
“All in all, the mural has been a great opportunity for the students at Shanksville,” said Florence Hufford, one of the students involved in the project.
“Shanksville is forgotten a lot due to our small size, and I was shocked to hear we would be doing this important project. It taught us a lot about working under a deadline and working through adversity and many other hard tasks. But I find it was worth it all. I hope that people will come through here and be inspired by what Somerset County has to offer.”
Student K Saylor also thanked all those involved for choosing their school for this project.
“Our school is very small; our senior graduating class is around 19 students in all, so we don’t really get to benefit from a lot of these opportunities,” she said.
“Our art piece is going to be shown off in such a public space, and it allowed us to show off our students and show off what we have been working for. Everyone was involved who wanted to be, and she (Miller) encouraged everyone to be involved and work on it. I liked watching the students show up.
“Every time I walked in the art room, I saw at least one student working on this mural, and there was always somebody in there, getting it done. That was really nice to see.”
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Where to see a new mural by Shanksville students promoting Somerset County
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