UCO Professor and Students to Collaborate with A+ Schools on Centennial Mural Project with Children

November 2, 2006

Noted muralist and UCO professor Dr. Bob Palmer will collaborate with Oklahoma A+ Schools in creating an Oklahoma Centennial mural painting with 174 local children on Nov. 17.

Recently recognized as an official Oklahoma Centennial project, the Centennial Mural Project will feature visual art pieces submitted by students enrolled in A+ Schools responding to the theme, “Oklahoma: Learning from the Past, Living in the Present, and Envisioning the Future.”

Collective pieces will be painted onto the exterior of a building located at NW 10th and Pennsylvania Avenue in Oklahoma City.

In addition to participating students and their school’s administrators and teachers, A+ Schools supporters also will contribute to the project by bringing sketchpads, cameras and musical instruments to capture the creative progress throughout the day.

“There is something magical that happens when you put a paintbrush in a child’s hand and let them loose to get creative on a surface that large,” Palmer said.

“The images that we’ve seen have been impressive and absolutely darling. We will see everything from pre-historic Oklahoma to modern day. Magic is going to happen that day and I believe that the experience is going to be life changing for everyone.”

Palmer and his UCO students will be directing the work and assisting the participants with paint, brushes and other supplies throughout the day.

The event is free and the public is encouraged to attend.

Palmer was recently selected as “Art Educator of the Year 2007” by the Oklahoma Art Education Association (OAEA), having taught mural painting at UCO for the past fifteen years.

He is widely known for the building-size murals that he has created throughout the state of Oklahoma, including murals at the Will Rogers World Airport, OKC Rocks, St. Anthony Hospital and at the Bass Pro Shop in downtown Oklahoma City.

Located at the University of Central Oklahoma, Oklahoma A+ Schools is a statewide, whole school reform network, whose mission is to “advance a quality, whole school experience to nurture the creative learner.”

The growing network of schools is comprised of 39 schools representing diverse communities throughout the state, committing to a set of “A+ Essentials” that include arts instruction, curriculum mapping and strong collaboration.

For more information about the Centennial Mural Project and/or A+ Schools contact Jean Hendrickson at (405) 974-3779 or visit www.okaplus.ucok.edu.

Page updated 11/02/06