Brookland, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — March 20, 2025 — A group of Brookland High School art students brought the city’s spirit to life through a new mural.

On March 17, art teacher Carrie Hatton posted a video on Facebook showing a postcard mural that the school’s art club painted on the Brookland Public Library, saying “Welcome to Brookland” with various images on each letter.

Hatton explained that the art club had previously done projects for the City of Walnut Ridge such as sidewalk chalk murals, and after doing that for a couple of years, the members wanted to do something permanent.

“I spoke with the mayor and asked him if that would be something they would be interested in, and he said yes and said come up with some ideas and take it to a city council meeting,” she said.

Planning for the project began as early as October 2024, according to Hatton. Much of the time was spent on getting the images ready and getting approval from the city council, while weather conditions delayed the project further. She said it only took around two days for the art club’s 22 members to get the mural painted.

The size of the mural was dictated by the size of the building, so they had to make sure their design fit just right, Hatton said.

“It was just a huge canvas for us, a blank white wall, and so we were really excited to get to do something on it,” she said. “As you come into Brookland, one of the first big things that you’ll see is the side of that building.”

Hatton said she picked most of the images used in the mural, representing different aspects of the community.

“The Bearcat for the school, we’ve got cows and agricultural images, all those things that represent the town,” she said.

Hatton said one of the main goals of the project was to showcase her students in their work and give them a sense of pride for the community and their artwork. She said her favorite aspect of the project was seeing the students get excited about doing something this big.

“I think it makes them proud, and I think it also makes our community have some pride in our town, to have something like that,” she said.

Through this project, Hatton said she thinks the students realized they could do big things and use their skills as a form of community service and serve others.

“All I hear is like, ‘We love it. It’s so beautiful. I’m so glad you did it. What are you doing next?’ It has been really positive,” Hatton said when discussing the community’s response to the mural.

With the mural completed, Hatton hopes this will foster some pride and ownership in the community, being something they can be proud of and make it a photo opportunity for visitors.

As for what’s next, Hatton said if things went well with the mural, they would be in talks with the city council to do more projects including painting the storm shelter and an interactive piece.

“You could get the wings that people pose with and get their picture made with, they can go and stay in and get their picture made with the images that are interactive,” she said.

The school is already coming up with the designs for those projects, but Hatton said they will probably wait until the next school year to begin work on them.