Mural offers hope for clean drinking water

Area elementary students are getting a firsthand lesson in how their art can make an impact on the world as they unveil a large-scale collaborative piece of artwork called The Hope Mural.

Each of 530 Spencer Loomis Elementary students created one 5-inch by 5-inch piece of a mural design that was based on Vincent van Gogh's famous masterpiece Starry Night. The mural also incorporates a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The pieces were assembled into an 8-foot by 12-foot mural, which will serve as the centerpiece for a fundraising campaign to bring clean drinking water to a community that needs it.

The project is part of the school's PTO Art Parent program, a parent-lead art enrichment effort designed to supplement existing art curriculum at the Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school.

"Even the kids were skeptical at first about how all of these pieces were going to come together," said Vanessa Griffin, Spencer Loomis PTO volunteer. "They are learning how their small contribution when combined with others can become something magnificent."

"Many art historians interpret the light in the sky of Starry Night to represent hope in the midst of deep despair," Griffin said. "And I'm not sure there's another thinker who did more to inspire people to hope than Martin Luther King Jr. These two elements combined really help kids think about how their art might give people hope."

The school is selling copies of the mural in the form of stickers ($5), prints ($10) and posters ($20).

"We chose a charity with a simple, tangible mission," Griffin said. "Most of us take a clean tap of water for granted. Yet according to some statistics, one in eight people on the planet do not have access to safe, clean drinking water," she said. The issue impacts children in developing countries directly, because water collection responsibilities often fall to them, preventing them from attending school.

Proceeds from The Hope Mural fundraiser will benefit charity:water, a nonprofit organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

This organization digs wells in needy communities, trains local people to build, utilize and maintain the water infrastructure that will support their communities both now and in the future, and reports back to its donors with the location of the well which exists because of their efforts.

For more information, visit charitywater.org.