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Teacher Paints A Good Example

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By MEGAN HUSSEY

Tribune Correspondent

Published: August 17, 2008

HUDSON - To art teacher Travis Garrett, Northwest Elementary School is more than just a workplace.

It's a canvas.

As returning students walk through the school's media center this fall, they'll see Garrett's latest contribution to the school's landscape: a 2,000-square-foot mural that illuminates the upper walls.

Created over five and a half days this summer, using 20 gallons of paint, the mural depicts a group of mustangs (the school logo) running against the backdrop of a Florida beach; on the opposite wall, a lone mustang stands against an azure sky.

"I always draw inspiration from nature," Garrett said.

Making the school look better inspires him, too.

"This is my fifth year here, and it feels like home," Garrett said. "I'm so pleased to be putting my work up here."

The walls of Garrett's classroom are lined with more tropically themed murals. Last year, he and his students collaborated on a mural that raised money for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Students paid $2 apiece to decorate 4-inch tiles for the mural, which found a permanent place in the school's entryway.

"We raised $900 for the Red Cross," he said.

Another Garrett mural, depicting a Florida beach scene inspired by a classic postcard, serves as the backdrop in the studio where the school news crew films its newscasts.

In all these projects, Garrett's target audience is always his students.

"I always want to inspire the kids," he said. "I knew from the moment I first walked in the school that this is where I wanted to be. I love the openness that these kids have for learning."

Garrett aims to open the kids' minds for their own artistic projects.

"One thing I tell all my students is, 'Don't get too attached to one project.' Always be working and creating."

He should know. Before getting into education, Garrett had his own art studio in St. Petersburg.

Now, though, he's entrenched at Northwest Elementary. His 11-year-old stepson Tristan graduated from the school last year; his 6-year-old daughter Delaney, who often works on projects with her father, will start first grade at the school this year, and 3-year-old daughter Marley is a future Northwest student.

"My family will be here for at least another 10 years," he said.

For the media center mural, school administrators asked Garrett to bring color to the room's off-white walls. He decided on a design based on a classic Florida postcard, with a beach background, palm trees and blue skies, and then incorporated mustangs.

"The media center is the hub of our school," said Holly Oakes, Northwest Elementary's assistant principal. "The kids walk through here every day, at least once a day, and it's a visual center for them."

Garrett got Seaside Sanitation in Hudson to sponsor the project. Its support covered his supplies and labor.

"They were excited to be part of the school and part of the community," he said.

Oakes said she hopes to commission additional Garrett murals at Northwest.

Media specialist Melissa Miller, for one, is thrilled with the transformation in her workspace.

"There's a completely new energy here," she said. "It's a new place to work."

Students seem to like it, too.

"The kids coming in for summer school have been awestruck by the mural," said Oakes.

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