Muralist returns to Waubonsie for seventh time

If murals earned diplomas, Timm Etters would be a super scholar.

The artist is wrapping up his seventh mural in the halls of Indian Prairie Unit District 204’s Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora since his first in 1993.

The latest mural, a 24-by-10-foot piece being painted on the gymnasium wall, is a gift from the Warriors Class of 2007 along with some lettering and touch-up work above the bleachers. School administrators plan to unveil the finished mural at the upcoming eighth-grade orientation on Jan. 24.

“I’m finally getting to paint the gym,” Etters said Friday. “So many schools start in the gym and work their way around, but I had to do six before I could get to the gym.”

The latest mural, he said, will feature an elder, wiser warrior chief who has “been through the mill a little bit.” Scenes depicted in the mural will capture the chief reliving great moments in his life while also looking to the future.

“The first Chief I painted in 1993 was the young, muscular man ready to take on the world and there’s been a progression through his life in the series,” Etters said, not wanting to divulge too much more. “I won’t even show the kids rough sketches because I want the completed piece to be awe-inspiring instead of them feeling like they’ve seen it before.”

For inspiration, Etters said he and Assistant Principal Rudy Kellar spent an afternoon last summer up on “the Hill.”

“It’s really quiet up there because you’re in the trees looking down and you get a beautiful view of the football field and the campus,” he said. “It’s a place I could envision the old chief would sit and ponder so I created that vantage point in the mural.”

Like most of his murals, Etters is focusing on the work of his airbrush but he’s experimenting with more hand-painting to differentiate this mural from his others in the school.

“It’s very exciting to be back because I’ve got so much work here, the kids actually think I went to Waubonsie,” he said. “A few years back they gave me a beautiful leather jacket with one of my murals on the back. I love it because it’s the warmest coat I have but I think eventually they need to give me an honorary diploma.”