Art students’ 3 murals to be unveiled at Water Street Studios

Water Street Studios in Batavia will host 30 art honor students from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 11, saluting a series of three, 12-foot murals they designed and painted in the alley entrance leading to the studios.

Executive Director Taylor Egan said the students are from Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles North high schools, and have been working on the project for five months.

“The theme was revitalization. The students designed it (the mural) and designed a T-shirt around it, and on Friday, they will execute the painting of it,” Egan said, meaning the students will all do the finishing touches to each of their three murals.

Water Street Studios covered all the students’ art expenses for the project, about $1,700, she said.

The mayors of the three towns will be invited, as will the art teachers, students’ parents and any member of the public who would like to attend, she said.

“Water Street Studios wanted to give the students something to look forward to because they had a rough year and this was something positive,” Egan said. “They went through the design process, brainstormed ideas, then voted on which direction to go, then designed the final mural of each group’s interpretation of that theme.”

Students didn’t actually start painting until late March and early April, she said.

Water Street Studios also worked with the city of Batavia for permission to have students paint the murals because it owns the alley retaining wall, she said.

The retaining wall is 6 feet high and about 100 feet long, so the students’ work is the first step in having all murals on the alley, Egan said.

“It will be an ongoing project,” Egan said.

School of Rock from Geneva will perform, and the event will lead into an art show opening of the “Signature Strokes” exhibition from 6 to 9 p.m. that day, featuring various artists and centered on the medium of drawing, Egan said.

Water Street Studios is at 160 S. Water St. in Batavia. For details on all its exhibitions, classes and other events, visit waterstreetstudios.org.