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Taking some colorful paint, hours of hard work and a roomful of creativity, a group of Shawnee teens produced a gift that will give back benefits to their library for years to come.
The teens created four colorful paneled murals as part of a summer project at the Shawnee Public Library. The four-foot by eight-foot murals will become a permanent part of the library’s decoration.
“This will add to the culture of our city for many years,” said Karen Bays, Shawnee Public Library branch manager. “We are really grateful for what they have done for us with this project.”
The murals were dedicated Sept. 7 in a library reception that drew more than 80 members of the community, as well as many of the teens who were involved.
The Junior Service League of Shawnee and Friends of the Shawnee Public Library provided funding for the project, which took place during two workshops and several additional weekends as part of the library’s Teen Summer Reading Program.
The teens worked with muralist and creativity coach Amanda Joy Wells in the initial two-session workshop.
The four murals represent four themes — one featuring popular children’s books, a second with depictions from popular teen books, one with Shawnee landmarks and the other a “catch-all” designed by Wells with such features as the Statue of Liberty, a shooting star and a rocket ship.
The teens sketched the characters for the teens’ and childrens’ murals, with Wells fine-tuning and transferring the sketches to the panels used for the murals. The teens then did all of the painting.
The idea for the murals came from a teen advisory board meeting with Teen Librarian Mary Sims and several of the teens who are active in library projects.
“We decided this would be a good project for the library and the city and it was a lot of fun,” said Jake Nelson, 14, a Shawnee High School freshman who worked on the project. “It was a great thing to do during the summer.”
Some of the work was precise. The mural of Shawnee landmarks included a depiction of two of the fiberglass horses displayed around the city as part of its “Horse in the City” project — their colorful look took some work.
“We spent a lot of time getting that just right,” Nelson said.
Along with Nelson, other teens who helped at the unveiling ceremony and were contributors to the project included Virginia Beasley, Monica Brinker, Nicole Brinker, Taylor Bivings, Zach Bivings and Blake Nowlin.
The children’s-themed mural will be displayed in the library’s children’s department. For now, the other three hang in the library’s community rooms, although they may find other homes in the library at some point.
The Shawnee Public Library is part of the Pioneer Library System, which operates nine branches in three counties.
For more information on programs or activities at the library, visit at 101 N. Philadelphia Ave., call 275-6353 or go online to www.justsoyouknow.us/shawnee.
Taking some colorful paint, hours of hard work and a roomful of creativity, a group of Shawnee teens produced a gift that will give back benefits to their library for years to come.
The teens created four colorful paneled murals as part of a summer project at the Shawnee Public Library. The four-foot by eight-foot murals will become a permanent part of the library’s decoration.
“This will add to the culture of our city for many years,” said Karen Bays, Shawnee Public Library branch manager. “We are really grateful for what they have done for us with this project.”
The murals were dedicated Sept. 7 in a library reception that drew more than 80 members of the community, as well as many of the teens who were involved.
The Junior Service League of Shawnee and Friends of the Shawnee Public Library provided funding for the project, which took place during two workshops and several additional weekends as part of the library’s Teen Summer Reading Program.
The teens worked with muralist and creativity coach Amanda Joy Wells in the initial two-session workshop.
The four murals represent four themes — one featuring popular children’s books, a second with depictions from popular teen books, one with Shawnee landmarks and the other a “catch-all” designed by Wells with such features as the Statue of Liberty, a shooting star and a rocket ship.
The teens sketched the characters for the teens’ and childrens’ murals, with Wells fine-tuning and transferring the sketches to the panels used for the murals. The teens then did all of the painting.
The idea for the murals came from a teen advisory board meeting with Teen Librarian Mary Sims and several of the teens who are active in library projects.
“We decided this would be a good project for the library and the city and it was a lot of fun,” said Jake Nelson, 14, a Shawnee High School freshman who worked on the project. “It was a great thing to do during the summer.”
Some of the work was precise. The mural of Shawnee landmarks included a depiction of two of the fiberglass horses displayed around the city as part of its “Horse in the City” project — their colorful look took some work.
“We spent a lot of time getting that just right,” Nelson said.
Along with Nelson, other teens who helped at the unveiling ceremony and were contributors to the project included Virginia Beasley, Monica Brinker, Nicole Brinker, Taylor Bivings, Zach Bivings and Blake Nowlin.
The children’s-themed mural will be displayed in the library’s children’s department. For now, the other three hang in the library’s community rooms, although they may find other homes in the library at some point.
The Shawnee Public Library is part of the Pioneer Library System, which operates nine branches in three counties.
For more information on programs or activities at the library, visit at 101 N. Philadelphia Ave., call 275-6353 or go online to www.justsoyouknow.us/shawnee.
