For the past 2 weeks, Ms. Kort’s various art classes have been transforming Woodford County High School’s courtyard into a gorgeous gallery. 

The courtyard features a wide array of student-led artwork, showing that creativity simply cannot be confined to the walls of a classroom. Curious about the inspiration and intentions of this project, I sat down with Ms. Kort for a brief interview about the process of creating such marvelous murals. 

When did you start this project and why?

“We started this project back in mid-to-early April. We started brainstorming back then with the idea of beautifying the courtyard a little bit and adding some color, because there’s so much concrete out there. Mrs. Waldron approached me and said she wanted to add something a little more fun and peaceful, so that’s why a lot of the paintings you see are mainly focused on nature and the outdoors.”

Are the paintings more teacher or student-led?

“The paintings are student-led. I told them nature themed and they all ran with it but there are a couple that strayed away from it in some areas. You’ll see we have a book staircase, a lot of yellowjackets, honeycomb patterns, flowers, and it was all their own ideas.”

When do you expect to finish?

“Our goal is to finish on Friday [May 21st]. We may work a couple days next week but right now we’re really pushing for Friday so we can fine-tune any spilled paint and get everything sealed by the last few days of school.”

Would you like students to continue this project next year?

“I think it would be really cool to continue, I know Mrs. Waldron is really interested in having some different pieces in some walls we haven’t really gotten the chance to start yet. But I think it would be a really cool project to grow over the years and see all these different graduating years all putting their work together. A lot of them have been putting their name and a date on them to make their mark on the school. It’s been an exciting project so I really do hope it continues.”

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