ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Hundreds of tykes in the Lehigh Valley contributed to a new project for all to see at the Da Vinci Science Center in Allentown.
The approximately 120-foot mural, which went up during Independence Day at the corner of N. Lumber St. and W. Court St. in Allentown, puts kids experiencing natural sciences and engineering on a vivid canvas of rolling hills and cityscapes.
The mural is a collaboration between the Lehigh Valley Arts and Cultural Alliance, the Lehigh Valley Children's Centers Inc. (LVCC), and the Da Vinci Science Center. It was funded by Marvin Charles and Cheryl Koz Bohannon.
It was made via wallpaper-like prints and will be given final touch-ups during the installation process.
Artist Carla Majczan, a teacher at East Hills Middle School in Bethlehem, designed the final work by including images of participating children and combining many contributions of more than 300 students at an LVCC arts event in March.
“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 LVCC president Charles Donofrio at the time.
On the finished mural, buildings, patterns, feathers, and more are taken directly from various kids' designs and incorporated.
For Majczan's part, she wanted to incorporate the kids themselves to emphasize how STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education can connect with people and get them excited to go inside.
"You can't really have a good product of any of those things without having a creative outlook or adding art into it, I'm hoping people maybe look at science as more than what they think it is."Carla Majczan
"You can't really have a good product of any of those things without having a creative outlook or adding art into it," Majczan said while working on installing the mural.
"I'm hoping people maybe look at science as more than what they think it is."
Representatives for the science center were excited for it to be seen by the kids coming to the science center for its programs and those in the nearby schools, as well as the adults coming with them.
"It pulls you in to see the imagination of kids is still within us," Norberto Dominguez, community engagement liaison of the Da Vinci Science Center.
"So the kid in us comes out just like it does when adults are in the science center."
