MARIETTA, Ga. – In the cafeteria at Hightower Trail Middle School, a group of cheerleaders plays a game of discovery.

 

“Mine is over here!”

“And, mine is right there!”

Their excitement is over seeing their names hidden in a mural on one of the cafeteria’s walls.

“It’s kind of cool to say my name is in Venice, Italy,” said student Catherine Sauer.

The mural is so vivid it feels as though you could actually sail on a gondola along one of the canals, right in the middle of Hightower Trail’s lunchroom.

“I try to make conversation pieces for kids,” said Scott McIntyre, owner of Mural Press and the artist who creates the wonderful, realistic works of art.

McIntyre’s artistry brings a vibrancy to school that allows learning to take place not just inside the walls, but on the walls - throughout the building.”It makes the school come alive,” said Dr. Hilda Watkins, Principal at Hightower Trail Middle School. “We try to tie it in to either our history or social studies or something.” Scott began doing school murals in 1996 and has put them in nearly three dozen schools, mostly in Cobb County. 

Last year, word of his talent reached the Middle East and the Jordan River Foundation.

“I spent 8 weeks in Amman, Jordan working with students in a little park, working on a mural commissioned by the Jordon River Foundation,” McIntrye said.

Back in Georgia, the schools pay for Scott’s artwork through a fundraising method he created.

“So, we came up with idea, sort of like the Olympic bricks at (Centennial) Olympic Park,” McIntrye said.

Parents pay to have their kids’ names painted into the murals.

“With a $25 small and generous donation, you can make this happen,” said PTA Co-President Pati Morris.

“At some schools, so much money comes in, after Scott’s paid, the PTA gets the rest. Best of all, the students truly feel a part of their school.

“If we ever come back to visit, we can be like our name’s on the wall. Yeah. That would be pretty cool,” said Catherine.

Source: http://www.11alive.com/news/article/195028/40/MARIETTA-Schools-pay-for-murals-with-unique-fundraiser