LEWIS TOWNSHIP -- Students in one part of Northumberland County are aiming to make their community a little brighter one paint stroke at a time. It's all part of a mural project at Warrior Run High School.
Students spent their art class painting at Warrior Run High School near Turbotville.
Pretty soon it will turn into a 31 by 152 foot mural outside Warrior Run Middle School.
Art teacher Joel Ryder teamed up with artist Jonathan Laidacker. Both say the mural started out small back in August.
"And then we decided, we need to cover the whole wall. We have a chance to make this big. That's how we got to where we are today,” Ryder said.
The mural was paid for with state grant money. The Warrior Run community was invited to help paint it. Students are among the 300 or so painters who have left their marks so far.
"I think it's fun that we get to be involved because I think it's fun that I get to paint and be a little dirty,” said seventh grader Tommy Hornberger.
"I help paint for three class periods because I'm here for, like, three periods,” said senior Lydia Nugent.
Once the mural is finished, it's going to go outside the Warrior Run Middle School auditorium. Since the mural is weatherproof, even on a day like today it will stay intact.
"It's really exactly the same as rolling paint onto the wall, as far as the technicality of the material,” explained artist Jonathan Laidacker.
The artists say the mural is a collage of some of the local history of Watsontown, Turbotville, and surrounding areas.
"The actual mural itself starts in black and white and transitions to color. That's done to show a transition through time,” Ryder said.
The final community paint day is this Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Warrior Run Middle School.
The mural is expected to be put together and installed by the end of this year.