An East End teacher and her 8th grade advanced art students partnered with a local business to paint a mural.
A local Mexican restaurant has a vibrant new look, thanks to the dedication of an advanced eighth-grade art class from East End Middle School – and they are looking for another business to beautify. Under the direction of art teacher Laura DePriest, the class recently put the finishing touches on a massive, custom-designed Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) mural at Los Toritos East End. Read more and see pictures below.
HOW IT STARTED
This project serves as a entirely volunteer community outreach initiative. The process began in September when Los Toritos owner Maira visited the classroom to speak with students about her hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. She shared the cultural significance of Dia de los Muertos and outlined her vision for the restaurant’s wall. Following the visit, students researched the holiday’s prominent symbols, themes, and color palettes to create personalized concepts.
THE DESIGN
Students developed individual and small-group sketches, which were then submitted to the owner. “She couldn’t pick just one design and instead requested to combine elements from a handful of designs,” DePriest stated. Using the digital illustration app Procreate, DePriest compiled the selected elements from 14 different student designs into a single master blueprint. The digital image was then projected onto the restaurant wall for tracing, ensuring the final painted lines precisely matched the students’ original artwork.
Over the course of three months, 24 students, along with DePriest, dedicated 10 work days, to bring the mural to life. The project also featured brief contributions from two guest students and three guest teachers. In total, the team logged 81 chronological hours on-site, culminating in a combined total of 314 man-hours.
Los Toritos is located at 1022 Angel Ct, Little Rock, AR 72206.
POR QUE / WHY
“These kids did ALL this work just for the sake of getting to contribute their public art to an awesome mural,” DePriest noted, adding that the students’ primary compensation came in the form of building confidence, learning social skills, and enjoying complimentary chips, drinks, and close to a gallon of cheese dip provided by the restaurant. Because of a technicality in state law regarding high school volunteer hours, the eighth-grade students were unable to count this time toward their required 75 high school community service hours.
The project was completed at no cost to the business. DePriest personally funded the supplies, which totaled just under $1,000. In exchange, Los Toritos provided the canvas and a welcoming environment for the young artists.
“The restaurant does not pay for this… allowing us to invade their space is payment enough,” DePriest said. “But Los Toritos went above and beyond for us—they truly treated us like family.”
ANOTHER MURAL COMING
With the Los Toritos mural complete, DePriest has already turned her sights toward the future. She has announced that she seeking another local business interested in hosting a mural for next year’s advanced art class. Visit this link to get in touch.
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