Eighteen-year-old Chelsah Thomas designed and painted colorful murals at six elementary schools with input and help from administrators and students. 

“The reason I wanted to include kids in the process, and do larger projects for the school, is so it’s more than just pretty art on the wall,” she said. “I want kids to have an appreciation for their school, because I feel like when they love where they’re at and they appreciate where they’re at, they want to do better. It makes the school a better place and makes them a better person. And, obviously, the things I’m putting up on the wall are good values, so I’m hoping at least the values will sink in.”

Her first mural was created for Copper Canyon Elementary, where her grandma Patty Bowen is the principal.

“She asked me if there was something that I wanted, and I said, ‘Well, we have started this year with a new theme about kindness, and I would really love something that focuses on kindness, something bright, something colorful,” Bowen said.

Together, they came up with a design of the word ‘kindness’ with various colors and patterns in the letters which student council members helped paint on the gym wall.

“I just hoped it would be a strong reinforcer every day that that is an attribute that we all need to be cultivating,” Bowen said.

Bowen spread the word to her colleagues and Thomas has since completed murals at three other schools in the West/South Jordan area—Oquirrh Elementary, Columbia Elementary and Monte Vista Elementary—and at two schools in Colorado.

“Anything that will make our school look like a more inviting, fun place sounds like a great idea to me,” Columbia Elementary Principal Keith Klein said. “We had sterile white walls, and now we’ve got a neat red, white and blue message.”

The mural at Columbia Elementary School is a colorful reminder of the year’s theme “Make a Difference” and encourages students to “be grateful” and to “keep Columbia clean.”

“I had a group of sixth graders help me paint it, and I tried to talk with them a little bit about what that meant,” Thomas said.

Oquirrh Elementary Principal Jennifer Ludlow had Thomas paint the mural in the gym where all students would see it.

“We liked the idea of having a mural that was personal for the school, that goes with our Mountain Man theme, but also emphasizes one of the core values that we are teaching our students,” Ludlow said. “We want kindness to be an integral part of our school culture. When she presented the idea of Kindness Moves Mountains, we knew that was perfect for our school.”

Ludlow said many parents use it as a backdrop when taking pictures of their students at school.

Each project took a lot of time and effort, especially since Thomas normally works in sculpture.

“She came in multiple weekends to make it the way that she wanted it to be,” Klein said. “She put in a ton of time. I just want to express a big thank you to her. It’s just a neat thing that she did and I’m very appreciative.”

Thomas began painting murals in local schools to beef up her portfolio when she was named Herriman High School’s 2023 Visual Arts Sterling Scholar. She continued to paint murals for the next year and a half.

“I’m waiting to go to college until after my [church] mission and I don’t like the idea of a gap year, that made me really sad to think about,” she said. “So I wanted to fill it with stuff that was meaningful and that would help me, not just with portfolios or clout, but just, like, as a person. I just wanted to fill my year with service.”

The mural at Monte Vista Elementary will be her last for a while; Thomas leaves on her mission later this month.  λ