x
Breaking News
More () »

Student-Painted Murals from 1930s Restored

WILLIAMSPORT — Student-painted murals left in storage for nearly 25 years have now been restored. A worker wiped down glass that covers a painting in the ...

WILLIAMSPORT -- Student-painted murals left in storage for nearly 25 years have now been restored.

A worker wiped down glass that covers a painting in the hallway at Curtin Intermediate School in Williamsport.

"We just a few months ago finished putting the murals up on the wall," said James Dougherty, organizer.

Students walking to lunch pass by the murals that were recently put back up on the walls.

"I think they are really cool and I'm just really interested in them," said Alexandria Chillson, a student at Curtin Intermediate School.

The murals were painted by staff and students at the school in the 1930s.

"I was here as a student when they were on the wall," said Dougherty.

There are 46 paintings in all. Each depicts a different scene from the poem, "The Song of Hiawatha."

Dougherty said the murals hung on the walls when he started teaching at the school, but were taken down during a renovation project in the 1980s.

“These murals were taken and placed in storage where they remained for 15 years," said Dougherty.

Nearly 11 years ago Dougherty and another former teacher decided the paintings should be brought back out.

"After being displayed for 50 years they were in pretty rough shape," he said.

Dougherty said when the project started the community was right there to help pay for the restoration project. Once it was complete they had received nearly $50,000 from the community.

"All of the work to do the work was volunteer with the exception of renovating the paintings," said Dougherty.

Dougherty says it took a former art teacher six summers to restore the paintings, but now that it's complete, school administrators say they plan to use them in art and history classes.

"They have the opportunity to get into those projects and into the Native American culture and history," said Williams Rathjen, assistant principal.

The community is welcome to check out the murals during a dedication service at the school in Williamsport.

Before You Leave, Check This Out