For one group of summer school students, a paintbrush is connecting them to both history and the future.

The group of Bloomer fourth through eighth grade students are painting a mural on a 200 foot stretch of wall along Duncan Road in Bloomer.

The wall they're painting has been around for 75 years -- and the art teachers in charge of the project say they hope the Bloomer community will be able to enjoy their mural for the next 75 years as well.

For Bloomer's elementary and middle school art teachers, this mural is the result of townspeople working together.

Elementary school art teacher Monica Zwiefelhofer says, “I think it really brings the community together, seeing the kids out here painting.”

This is the second week the kids have been working on the wall, and already they've taken ownership of their project. Middle school art teacher Mary Ann Gumness says, “They will come back the next day and I’m doing that deer, I’m doing that frog, nobody better paint on my butterfly, and they really take ownership over every animal or tree or whatever it is that they’re painting.”

And that's exactly what Gumness wants to instill in her students. She says, “To help students and children learn to creatively problem solve is just a very big part of beauty and understanding that ,they can carry on from today to a long, long time from now.”

And the kids say helping create something beautiful in their community is special.

Twelve-year-old Tyler Stoll says, “Because I know I’ll have helped the community and just helped paint a lot of stuff.”
Sixth grader Megan Sarauer says, “Because you can point out to people and say you actually have the right to say you painted that.”

Kali Pecha was busy painting a woodpecker Monday she says, “Chippewa has a couple of these, and I’ve always wanted one in Bloomer, it’s really cool.”

Zwiefelhofer says keeping art alive in the community is really what the project is all about. She says, “Art is used in everything we have, everything we do, it's about expressing yourself and just enjoying life.”

If you would like to help support Bloomer's community art projects you can send donations to the Bloomer High School at 1310 17th Ave, Bloomer, WI, 54724.