ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The only thing more evident than the paint on the little girl’s hands was the colorful smile on her face.
“Painting,” 8-year-old Alyssa said, “makes my face feel all sunny.”
On a misty, gray Thursday, the gymnasium at Lehigh Valley Children’s Center was awash in a rainbow of colors, imagination and infectious smiles of youth.
It was Community Painting Day. About 350 kids ages 3 to 12 from the greater Lehigh Valley spent the time painting large wallpaper-type sheets that will be assembled to create a 120-foot-long mural.
“It’s great to see the excitement on the kids’ faces as they paint and know it’s going to be on the mural."Charles Donofrio, president and CEO, Lehigh Valley Children's Center
The finished STEAM mural product will be displayed on an exterior wall of the Da Vinci Science Center at PPL Pavilion, scheduled to open May 22 in downtown Allentown.
“It’s great to see the excitement on the kids’ faces as they paint and know it’s going to be on the mural,” said Charles Donofrio, LVCC president.
The event was made possible by a partnership among the Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance, Da Vinci Science Center and the children’s center.
The mural will marry elements from original artworks generated by the students, likenesses of several students included in the project, and the incredible imagery from mural director Carla Majczan, an art teacher at East Hills Middle School in Bethlehem.
The children's imaginations
Children who arrived in three shifts from Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties stood at tiny tables upon which large sheets, called Polytab, were displayed.
They colored parts of the images; Majczan will do the finishing touches.
Selected from a regional open call for a public artist accustomed to working with children, Majczan will oversee collaborations for a mural that celebrates the convergence of STEM education with the arts.
“I created arts lessons for the Lehigh Valley Children's Centers for teachers to do with their students with different parts of STEAM education,” Majczan said.
“I got two huge boxes of what they created art-wise. Then I took them and incorporated them into my panel drawings."
Those 29 panels were strung together on a gymnasium wall.
“What’s nice is that when kids are little, they have these ideas. They’re not judging themselves by saying, ‘That’s not a good idea.’ They’re more free about it. Our most imaginative things come from kids at this age.Mural Director Carla Majczan,
The children’s imaginations, accented by Majczan’s talented touch, ran the gamut of wonder and discovery, to friendship and understanding and nature and nurture.
One of the panels proved especially moving. It depicted three children of different races kneeling before a brook of blue reaching their hands into the water to touch an image of a heart.
“What’s nice is that when kids are little, they have these ideas,” Majczan said.
“They’re not judging themselves by saying, ‘That’s not a good idea.’ They’re more free about it. Our most imaginative things come from kids at this age.
“And what they learn from this is, when they are older, that they could do something more like this.”
Painting is so much fun
Majczan paused. She surveyed the room filled with kids and colors and imagination. She smiled.
“We need imagination in almost everything we do,” she said. “These kids have it. Unfortunately, there’s not enough imagination in this world.”
Ethan Herstine has imagination beyond his tender years. He had just finished painting and the thrill lingered on his 6-year-old face.
Painting is so much fun, he said. And then he walked away.
A moment later, he tracked down his interviewer to add, “I also like to paint tornadoes and weather. I love to paint.”
“All you have to do is look around. It’s important to have an opportunity to be around kids who are doing something with pride to make a better world.”Marvin Charles, who with Cheryl Koze Bohannon funded the mural project the past two years
Marvin Charles and Cheryl Koze Bohannon, who funded the mural project the past two years, watched in delight as the children splashed their vivid imaginations on the Polytab fabric.
Charles was asked why this project was so vitally important.
“Why?” he repeated. “All you have to do is look around. It’s important to have an opportunity to be around kids who are doing something with pride to make a better world.”
Bohannon added: “We’re involved because we want to be part of giving kids a sense of pride and accomplishment.”
'It means something'
Majczak was rushing throughout the noisy gym crowded with colors and laughter and childhood imaginations that ran from their souls to their brushes.
She enjoyed every exhausting second of it.
“They said they dreamed of a world of love. That should show the world what things like this, everybody working together, diversity, all that kind of stuff can do. This is what kids can do and what they can teach us.Mural director Carla Majczan
“There was a girl who I’ll never forget — and I love this,” Majczak said. “I gave the kids a lesson about dreams. I wanted to know what they dreamed of.
"This one student, the drawing didn’t really explain it. But on the back of it, the teacher wrote what the student said, because she was a younger student.
“They said they dreamed of a world of love.
“That should show the world what things like this, everybody working together, diversity, all that kind of stuff, can do. This is what kids can do and what they can teach us.
"That’s why something like this today is so important. It means something.”
Perhaps it means more sunny days ahead.
