Anoka middle school decks the hallway

At Anoka Middle School for the Arts, a group of young artists is transforming a hallway with a vibrant mural, turning four walls into "Welcoming Spaces."

The mural portrays students snowboarding, playing baseball, creating art or just hanging out, against a backdrop of the four seasons. Across the top it reads, "Artistic, dramatic or sports fanatic, we are like seasons," and "Different but able to be brought together by one common thing."

Eighth-grader Bailey Hoffman won a school-wide contest earlier this year to design the mural.

Hoffman made sure to visually represent students from all walks of life, with diverse cultural backgrounds and interests.

"There are so many things you can take from the walls, no matter how you look at it," she said. "Everyone has something in common. It just might take longer to find it."

While working on the project, Hoffman bonded with other students who joined in the effort. Most of them had also entered submissions in the contest, and they wanted to help paint the mural.

Along the way, "I've learned a lot about working with people and communicating better," said Hoffman, who's taken on a kind of project manager role throughout the process.

One of the biggest challenges was "trying to explain what was in my head," such as how to do the sky, Hoffman said.

At one point, "the sky got messed up," but in the end, "it turned out better than had the mistake not been made."

Also, when she first picked out her paint colors, she didn't know what the consistency would be like. "The green paint surprised me, but I ended up liking it a lot," she said, adding that the grass was her favorite part of the mural to create.

Getting the proportions right was also tough in the beginning. She drew everything freehand. "I kept wanting to make the people life-sized, but they're more like cartoons," she said.

The project has taught her that "you have to have patience. I have to work on that," she said. "It won't come together instantly."

Seventh-grader Madeline Fragale agreed. After helping paint a snowy landscape on one wall, she found she likes doing art in a social setting. "You have to trust each other right away," she said.

Alissa Little, another seventh-grader, added: "I like doing something larger. You have a lot more space and can have a lot more detail," she said. "It's more fun and challenging at the same time."

Creating a welcoming space

Special education teacher Dan Mades and curriculum integrator coordinator Jolanda Dranchak initiated the mural.

It all started when Mades' students complained last year that the basement classroom was too drab.

This time, with Dranchak's help, he opened up the creative process to the entire student body through the contest.

He and Dranchak came up with the theme of "Welcoming Spaces" as a way to beautify the hallway and get students involved.

As part of the contest, students had to submit an illustration and a brief essay. Of the 16 entries, Hoffman's design stood out. "She got exactly what we wanted," Mades said.

"It's a great scene, and the artwork matched the theme. Her essay was also spot on."

Her image works on many different levels. "That's what drew us most, how deep she went with it," Mades said.