Note: To view time-lapse video of mural being created, go to Mural.
Story by Tony DeMeo
Content Marketing Specialist -The Corvallis Clinic
Photos by Jodi Herrling
Jodi B Herrling Photography
Some patients of Dr. Christy Rivers can get downright green with envy when they visit her. And, The Corvallis Clinic pediatrician can thank the diligence and artistic talents of three Crescent Valley High School students for it.
CV seniors Frankie Pezzullo, Alex Reynolds and Lauren Komnenus painted a colorful, whimsical mural of undersea creatures in one of Dr. Rivers’ exam rooms over a recent weekend. Trouble is, her two other exam rooms are not so creatively adorned, which sometimes spurs her young patients to give her an earful.
“I hear the complaints when they don’t get the room with the mural in it,” Dr. Rivers said. “That’s a testament to the great work the students produced.”
Dr. Rivers said the artwork on the walls she inherited when she started at The Clinic in 2014 was OK but “not exactly pediatric friendly.” To remedy this, she decided to see if any young area artists would be interested in painting a mural. “I wanted to provide my patients something to look at that is distracting and cheerful and to give our high school students an opportunity to showcase their work.”
It took nearly a year of trying by Dr. Rivers, but eventually longtime CV art teacher Victoria Eastwood produced a trio of students.
“When Dr. Rivers contacted me late last summer about her mural project idea, I told her, “We will figure it out.’” Ms. Eastwood said it takes a while to select the students who have the requisite interpersonal, organizational and artistic skills to make good candidates. “Students can change so much in such a short period of time. It is time consuming to discern who would actually invest themselves in such a project, and who is ready and who is not.”
Frankie was the first student Ms. Eastwood approached. “I love art and it sounded like a really cool idea because parents look down on you painting murals on your own walls,” he joked. Eventually Alex and Lauren joined their friend Frankie in the endeavor.
For Alex, who has taken classes from Ms. Eastwood for four years and will attend the Minneapolis College of Art and Design to study cartoon animation, it has been a valuable real-world lesson.
“It gave me experience working with clients and under a deadline, and being part of a team that creates one singular vision.” He said it also helped him learn how to translate a small piece of art – meaning the students’ draft mural idea submitted to Dr. Rivers – into a big-scale project. “It was a great experience for anyone wanting to do any type of freelancing.”
For Frankie and Lauren, art is a hobby. Frankie, who is undecided on his future, has an interest in music. Lauren plans to study entomology and biology. Both would like to continue to be involved in similar projects. “I want to give back to the community,” Lauren said, “and this way is really fun.”
Dr. Rivers said she hopes to have murals in all of her exam rooms and that there is a possibility all the Pediatric rooms eventually will be so embellished.
“It is nice to reach out to art teachers because they know which students are more talented and more adaptable.” Dr. Rivers said she gives the students flexibility but prefers a child-friendly design. “The first draft wasn’t quite whimsical,” she said of the trio’s initial proposal. “They came back with great second draft ideas. And I said. ‘Go for it.’”
For the students, the project was all about working hard to help make kids happy. “That’s the whole reason I want to be a person who works on cartoons,” Alex said.
