An event on Saturday will include an opportunity for Ottumwa middle and high school students to paint a mural.
The mural painting activity is part of the Pride Block Party, hosted by Ottumwa Pride, on Saturday, August 28 from 3-11 p.m. in Canteen Alley. The "You Belong" mural painting is scheduled from 3-6 p.m. The mural will be painted on a 4 x 8 foot plywood board and will be interactive. Community members will be able to use it as a photo background. Kolby Streeby, an OHS youth counselor and sponsor of OHS's Fellowship of the Rainbow, sees this as a great way to involve students in a community project.
Streeby found the design on Pinterest and will modify it based on input from the students. The mural will be mobile until it finds a permanent home on a building in downtown Ottumwa.
The activity "is exciting," she said. "Last year we weren't able to do a lot of community outreach or events in general due to the pandemic." She hopes the outdoor activity makes students feel safe.
She reminds students from Evans and OHS to wear grubby clothes that they don't mind getting paint on.
