Bringing the outdoors in at CCLC
For two days last week, there was magic taking place in the foyer at the Child Care and Learning Center. Before the eyes of children, staff and parents, two blank walls were turned into a magnificent nature scene of our local Rappahannock woods. The final 23-by-7.5-foot mural is the spectacular result of a collaborative artistic project led by Rappahannock-based artist Kevin Adams of Washington.
The beneficiaries are not only the children, families and staff at CCLC, but two Rappahannock County High School art students, Amrit Tamang and Jane Purnell. How did this come to pass? “I approached Kevin about an idea I had to bring the outdoors inside our building as part of a building and grounds renovation plan. I wanted to highlight the outdoors and the nature aspect of our curriculum that is so fundamental to our programs here. We have such beautiful wooded outdoor play spaces, such fantastic scenery around us, and I wanted our foyer entrance to emphasize that our activities here are built around connecting children with nature,” said Rose Ann Smythe, CCLC’s executive director. “I saw a fantastic painting of Kevin’s, ‘Old Rag and the Piedmont,’ hanging in the Shenandoah National Park headquarters in Luray, and it took my breath away. I knew I must approach him and see if he could help.”
After a visit to CCLC, Adams agreed to take on the project, with a request. He asked if two high school art students could work with him on the project. “It could be a great learning experience for all, and would make it real Rappahannock collaboration,” Smythe said Adams told her.
With RCHS art teacher Joy Sours’ help, Tamang and Purnell signed on to get a hands-on two-day art lesson from a master artist. Tamang, an RCHS graduate, is headed to George Mason University in the fall to study pre-med; Jane Purnell is a rising senior whose favorite pastimes are soccer, writing and art.
On Mural Morning One, Adams arrived with his sketches of the mural he envisioned, cans of blue, white, yellow, black and red flat latex paint, and an assortment of empty coffee cans and brushes, as well as photographs of local scenes of rocks, trees, leaves and moss.
Neither of the teenagers had worked on a group project before. “I was really nervous,” said Tamang, describing his first day on the project. “I was having second thoughts about showing up at all. I was worried that maybe I would ruin it. I felt a lot better on the second day!”
“I knew there was the potential for apprehension from the two art students, so I was determined to not allow hesitancy,” said Adams. “That’s why I didn’t ask Jane or Amrit anything about their previous painting experience. I just put a brush in their hands and said, ‘Go!’ ”
The artists began with big shapes and then worked on highlights and shadows. Priming the walls with a dark grey, as artists prime their canvasses with a color, helped to add depth to the colors.
“The hardest part for me,” said Purnell, as the three stood back to look at their work at the end of day two, “was creating the light and mixing the right colors. You know, getting the colors that go with the other colors around it? I learned to pay attention to the little things, like moss on trees, and how light pops through the leaves. I just can’t believe what we made here!”
Kevin had his two young artists sign the mural as well and thanked them both. “I know that when I was young and coming along, I had a couple of older artists that really helped me, and I wanted to give back and share that experience. Thank you for letting me do that,” he later wrote to Smythe.
Complementing the mural in the foyer are two seven-foot handmade child-size benches, created from local wood by volunteer artisans Barney O’Meara and Lowell Dodge.
“These last two days have been an amazing experience for all, as we witnessed the development of a piece of art from a blank wall to the layering of light and color to produce what you see here,” said Smythe. “I have always told families when they come to visit that it is not only the little people that learn here. The big people learn every day as well. We all want to thank Kevin Adams for a living two-day art lesson that we will never forget.”