La Jolla student brings mural and messages together in new coloring activity

Though she wasn’t able to find larger spots for her art project in La Jolla, a student at The Bishop’s School has nonetheless left her mark on the community through a collaboration with local organizations.

Hoping to spread her artistic activism beyond the murals she’s painted on her school’s campus, senior Katelyn Wang approached public arts organization Murals of La Jolla to ask about painting large-scale pieces as part of her independent study in visual arts.

Though that didn’t pan out, Murals of La Jolla had a related idea: to create an artistic education component to complement its Chitra Ganesh mural, “Resurgence.” The mural, at 7540 Fay Ave., promotes awareness of biodiversity and the impact of climate change on endangered species.

“We had just started conceptualizing the idea for this project,” said Murals of La Jolla curatorial assistant Taylor Chapin. “The timing of [Wang’s] reaching out to us worked out great. Her enthusiasm, interest in the arts and skills as an artist seemed like the perfect fit, and we were thrilled that she wanted to jump on board to assist with this project.”

When Wang visited the mural, “I really liked how the animals are shaped,” she said. That led her to create a “find me” activity, a coloring sheet containing facts about the animals that Wang researched so “people could learn while they were doing,” she said.

The activity page designed by Katelyn Wang encourages users to learn about biodiversity.

(Provided by Katelyn Wang)

“I had a lot of fun just learning about the animals myself and making this activity,” she said.

The project was completed in March, and Wang left the pages at the adjacent Flower Pot Cafe and Bakery for patrons to take.

Flower Pot co-owner Amanda Morrow said there has been “great response.”

“There’s an interactive conversation between the parent and the kid. … It’s really educational and fun,” Morrow said.

Chapin agreed, saying, “Members of our community have been very excited about this project, including the mural artist, Chitra Ganesh.”

Copies also are available at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library at 1008 Wall St. (Murals of La Jolla is a project of the Athenaeum) and on the website muralsoflajolla.com.

“We have received a great deal of positive feedback from our partners and from participants and are hoping to have [the page] available in more locations around La Jolla soon,” Chapin said.

The response to Wang’s project has inspired Murals of La Jolla to work toward expanding educational programming related to other murals, said Chapin, who added that the organization “would love to do more with her moving forward.”

That may have to wait a bit, as Wang is headed to Yale University in the fall. She’ll be taking with her the lesson from this experience that despite the initial frustration of not being able to paint more murals in La Jolla just yet, “you will always end up where you are meant to be. You will always find space where you are meant to create. You will always find home.”

To view a video that Wang created about her independent study, visit bit.ly/KatelynWang. ◆