KEWASKUM — The Kewaskum Middle School Mural was unveiled to the public during the Kewaskum School District Art Show Wednesday evening.
The mural is located in the KMS gym hallway near the cafeteria entrance and measures 10 feet high by 40 feet long, comprised of 23 plywood panels in differing sizes ranging from 2x2 to 4x8-foot sheets donated by Drexel Building Supply and cut to size by Kewaskum High School students.
According to KMS art teacher Laura Stone, KMS over 300 students and staff worked with professional artist Paula DeStefanis to create the mural, culminating in an all-encompassing piece of art based on the overall theme: The World.
According to DeStefanis, staff came up with the theme, the students came up with different sketches and drawing concepts, and DeStefanis put them all together to design the mural.
"It was wonderful. It was exhaustive because of the scale, and the quantity of students, but with art it’s something near and dear to your heart," said DeStefanis. "And you want to give the kids a really impressive experience."
DeStefanis said putting the whole thing together was hectic, but rewarding. She’d get about 10 to 12 kids working with her at a time, up on scaffolding, who would paint for about 45 minutes at a time. Then, the process was repeated, day in and day out, for two and a half weeks.
"A lot of this is someone else saying ‘Well, that couldn’t have taken that long because you just painted that bit yellow,’" said DeStefanis. "But the truth of the matter is that’s four coats [of paint], you can’t just do one coat and it looks good. There’s a lot of designing and redesigning."
Panels from the mural were available to purchase at the event on a first-come, firstserve basis. With each purchase, buyers received a recognition name plaque at KMS and an archival photo of their panel as a keepsake. Panels will be ready for relocation by June 2027.
"We’re kicking it off with something big and then my vision on this is that every three years or so we’ll do something big again," said Stone. "The real push toward this to get students working with creative professionals; you know, do something real world. Stand on scaffolding and paint."
Proceeds from purchases of the mural’s panels support the KMS Artist in Residence Program, a program introduced in March that helps artists create their art and funds future opportunities for students to work with creative professionals and develop unique skills.
"I like it because it’s lots of layers," said Stone. "Not only are we getting artwork out and we’re repurposing it, but we’re going to give an opportunity for all of my students to say ‘I sold a piece of artwork,’ which is pretty cool."
It is exciting for students to enjoy the process of working together and creating something of this scale.
"Overwhelmingly, this has been a positive experience; not just for the students, but for the school. People walk around the corner and their faces just light up," said Stone. "There were instant smiles because this is transformative in the space; it was just a white wall, and now, to see a lot of color in here, most students didn’t know what to expect, like ‘OK, we’re going to paint a mural? That sounds cool.’ But then it got to be really cool."
