After finishing a mural commissioned by a Bed Bath & Beyond distribution warehouse in Lewisville on Feb. 10, art teacher Jennifer Russell and her AP art students will start on another mural for the warehouse. The initial project began in early December.

The project started after a district liaison officer emailed high school art teachers about the opportunity to paint a mural for the warehouse. Russell immediately emailed back saying her students could do it and had her AP class draw up sketches for the mural. Eventually, senior Marisa Villarreal’s design was chosen.

“Honestly when I first submitted my design, I thought there was no way it would be chosen,” Villarreal said. “It’s a different feeling than just having my artwork in a hallway at Hebron, [the mural] is going to be on a wall forever and people are going to see it everyday. It’s honestly just a really great experience.”

Originally, the mural was going to be situated in a dining hall where only workers of the warehouse would see it, but the corporation liked the design so much they moved it to the main lobby.

“We were the only school that got to be out in the main lobby, which is pretty awesome,” Russell said. “It was a little more pressure than normal, but we’ve gotten so much positive feedback on it already.”

Russell said the process of painting a mural is a complex one. After receiving the supplies from the warehouse, priming the walls, and freehanding the design, the painting began. Russell and her students worked on the mural almost daily after school.

“The whole process was very trial and error,” Russell said. “We learned that projectors don’t project as big as the wall, so Marisa just had to freehand the whole thing, then we just kind of painted by numbers so that anyone could come in and pick up a brush and dip in the paint and paint that color.”

Villarreal is pursuing a future career and art and said the mural gives her good insight into what she may experience as an artist.

“It really opened me up to having for work with clients for my art,” Villarreal said. “I had to collaborate with what the [client] envisioned and how my style fit into the huge mural. It’s also just a good experience with presenting my art and not second guessing myself.”

Russell and her students are set to start the next mural. According to senior and mural collaborator Taylor Himes, the process has been time-consuming, but completely worth it.

“I love bragging about [the mural],” Himes said. “Not only will the workers there see it, anyone that walks in the building will too. Plus, our art club is getting more recognition for it in the school.”