Polk State art students bring vibrant school spirit to Denison Middle through mural partnership

Polk State College’s mural class has partnered with Denison Middle School to create three vibrant, school-spirited pieces that are transforming the hallways and building bridges between college and community.

The collaboration provided Polk State students with the opportunity to apply their skills in a real-world setting while helping Denison Middle brighten its spaces and inspire its young Panthers.

“For years, we had spoken about doing something with the walls so that the hallways don’t appear so institutionalized,” said Principal Damien Jones, a proud alumnus of Polk State. “Our community liaison was able to connect us to the mural class at Polk State. It was a perfect match.”

Especially as Denison Middle recently introduced its own art classes.

“It shows the students that they can have a career in art. It’s not just about drawing on paper or doing some random graffiti. If they really focus, if that’s what they aspire to be, there’s more that they can do with art,” he explained.

That’s what inspired the inception of the mural painting class at Polk State. In June 2024, students completed a mural at Winter Haven Hospital, highlighting the course as not only the opportunity to paint, but to also engage a client and the community.

“It’s a unique and special experience for the students,” Professor Zack McGhin shared. “We only ever offer it when we have a school or place to work with. The students put forth their sketches, we workshopped different ideas…, they got the experience of working with the staff here and pitching their ideas to the principal.”

McGhin emphasized that the students have created the murals from start to finish, highlighting their skills and dedication.

“I’m here for quality control and that’s it,” he said. “It is all them, from conception to execution.”

Student Red Laird was inspired by the school’s mascot and staff’s pride, creating a panther and sunbeams.

“My piece is a black panther looking up toward the sun. There’s a lot of very warm, radiant sunbeams and then below it is water,” Laird explained. “I’ve grown as an artist through this class because there’s been a lot of collaboration.”

Allison Dvorske, a dual enrollment student who graduated in May with her Associate in Arts degree, echoed this inspiration and added that she wanted to provide some functionality to her piece which utilizes chalkboard paint and illustrates some mischievous panthers getting into paint buckets.

“I have learned that sometimes you make mistakes, sometimes you spill some paint, sometimes something drips, and that’s perfectly OK,” she expressed. “You can fix it and sometimes it turns into something even cooler.”

The students and their professor all shared their hope that the murals brighten the days of students and staff at Denison Middle.

“I hope that my piece can bring to students and staff here some color, some joy,” Laird said.

“More than anything, [I hope] these murals make the community here at Denison happy,” Dvorske shared.

They will do that, and more.

“One of my main goals is to show what life could be like if [students] apply themselves in school,” Jones explained. “We can plant some seeds now so that when they go to high school, they know that there’s life after high school and that they can enjoy going to Polk State College.”