Junior high students from Auxvasse Elementary donated artwork to Head Start Preschool in Fulton on Monday morning.
Partnered with the Auxvasse Creative Arts Program, nine students with the Auxvasse Junior High Arts Club painted a canvas donated by local artist Diamond Tripp.
Head Start is one of the many services the local Central Missouri Community Action sponsors. Jenny O'Donley, founder of the creative arts program, said CMCA has helped with the annual art festival for years and her organization wanted to show their appreciation to them.
"Since (this painting) was of a unicorn and was so colorful that we figured a kid's space would be well suited for it and also wanted to give back and thank (CMCA) for supporting our students," O'Donley said.
O'Donley said the entire project was completed in one day at the nonprofit group's Ashley Garrett Children's Art Festival in September. Tripp said he constructed the canvas in a few hours, traced the drawing and let the students complete the painting at the festival.
"I wanted to create a kind of dream effect on (the canvas)," Tripp said. "The theme (at the art festival) was 'fantasy,' so I just wanted to make it fun for these kids here to draw on."
This is the first time the creative arts program has given a donation like this, O'Donley said. Likewise, Head Start's site director Teressa Huskey said this was the first time the school had received a donation of art.
"We're going to hang (the painting) on this big wall we have in the hallway and post the kiddos' names who helped participate, maybe have a little back story posted on it as well," Huskey said.
"This whole experience has been great from making (the painting) to now giving it. I just wanted to do something fun and give people something new to do and to look at," Tripp said.