Woodland graduates spread artistic message

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Woodland Regional High School graduates Kayleigh Hawes, left, and Jelena Terrill painted a painting for the Beacon Falls Public Library Youth Room this spring for their senior project.

BEACON FALLS — The Youth Room of the Beacon Falls Public Library is a little more colorful thanks to the artistic talents of Woodland Regional High School graduates Kayleigh Hawes and Jelena Terrill.

The two soon-to-be college freshmen designed and painted a painting for the Youth Room as their senior project.

“We both really like art so we wanted to do something that incorporated that and they really needed a mural. So, it seemed like a perfect project,” said Terrill, who plans to attend Naugatuck Valley Community College in the fall to study nursing.

Art has always been an interest for Hawes, who plans to study art at the Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Mass. in the fall. The painting combined her interest in art with a desire to do a senior project that gave something to the community.

“I wanted to use it to give back to the community,” said Hawes about the senior project. The painting blends skateboarding the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu’s famous quote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Hawes and Terrill completed the painting in about 10 hours this spring Hawes said. Months later standing in the Youth Room, Terrill felt the painting achieved the desired effect in a simplistic manner.

“I like it,” Terrill said. “I like how simple it is. It spreads the message that we’re sending.”

The painting above, done by Kayleigh Hawes and Jelena Terrill, now hangs in the Youth Room of the Beacon Falls Public Library.