Front row, left to right:  Students Lincoln Brasier, Terra Bunn, Ailey Jones, Catherine Smith, Kate Shotwell, William Swaim, and Calli Oesterling. Back row:  BCEF Art on Main chair Ryan Holcomb, BIS art teacher Olivia Branch, BIS principal Dana Cassidy, and BCEF board member and mural coordinator Jimmy Rowland. Not pictured:  Lilly Reding

The second mural in the Batesville Community Education Foundation’s (BCEF) Art on Main student art program in downtown Batesville for this school year has been installed for public viewing on the side of the Simons Company building on Main Street in Batesville. The talent of eight Batesville Intermediate School (BIS) students is featured in this multi-faceted entry.

“BIS art teacher Olivia Branch worked with the students to develop ideas to fit our current theme of ‘Education Everywhere,’” explained BCEF board member and Art on Main chair Ryan Holcomb. “Students drew pictures that demonstrated that learning can place in a variety of locations and in many different ways.”

Artists featured in the mural, along with each student’s explanation, are below:

Lincoln Brasier

• • “I used photography as my idea for the mural because you can really capture this year’s mural theme. You can show lots of different types of education. I do photography for 4-H. My mom takes photos for weddings and other things so she taught me a lot about taking photos, too. In this picture there are lots of different types of education. I made the background and the camera.”
• Terra Bunn
  • “I really like drawing and I also like rainbows. My picture shows an easel with a picture by a rainbow and there’s a path leading to a school. It shows how someone is drawing a picture of what they see in real life. I like to draw pictures of things I see in real life like rainbows and cats and trees. Sometime conditions are not best to draw outside but I can also draw in my home. You don’t need to know a whole lot to be able to draw but it’s good to know how to hold a pencil right. I like to use blending in my drawings. I also use shading too. These are things you can learn to make a drawing better.”
• Ailey Jones
  • “This picture shows someone teaching a boy how to play an instrument. This instrument is a lap harp which is a harp that goes on your lap. You can put a paper under the strings and follow the notes on the paper. I learned to play the lap harp last Christmas when my grandparents gave me one as a Christmas present. You can learn from an instructor but you can also teach yourself to play like I did.”
• Catherine Smith
  • “I was thinking about what I love to do and dance popped into my head. I love dance so much; it makes me happy! I have been dancing since I was four in the same dance theater. I’ve been dancing ballet the longest but I’ve been dancing hip hop since I was 7 so I really like hip hop, too. I want to be a really good dancer when I’m older and maybe be a dance teacher. I help teach the 4-year-olds and they call me ‘Miss Catherine.’”
• Kate Shotwell
  • “My picture represents that you need to learn a lot to be able to bake. My picture has cookies that are being taken out of the oven which you need to figure out what ingredients and how much you need. In my picture, I put the cookies after they were baked to show that there are steps to succeed, and when there are steps to succeed, we have education because you need to learn all the steps such as how to pre-heat the oven, all the ingredients, how much of the ingredients to put in, and how long to bake it.”
• William Swain
  • “This picture shows that I like to go fishing. I go fishing with my grandpa on Saturdays. He taught me how to use an open reel which is a reel that you can see the line so you can untangle the line if needed. It’s also easy to fish with a reel that has a push button but you can’t see the line. I also learned you need a heavier lure on the line so that it flies farther and doesn’t get tangled. I once caught a 17-inch-long bass. I had to learn how to take the bass off the hook by putting my thumb inside the mouth and my index finger below the lip. When you pull the mouth back like that you can take the hook out but the bass can flick around. The teeth feel really weird like hundreds of little needles poking on your thumb. I’m glad I learned how to fish and I think it’s relaxing.”

Calli Oesterling

• • “My dad and pretty much my whole family has farmed. My dad and my grandpa taught me how to drive our tractor which isn’t as hard as what I thought. We have 200 hundred Angus cattle that I help take care of. I learned how to help get the cows in and out of their pens which can be tricky because if they get mixed in with the other cows it can be hard to find them again. My favorite thing about farming is spending time with my dad and grandpa.”
• Lilly Reding
  • “Skiing! On a mountain! In Indiana! My mural might not represent something you can do here in our gorgeous town of Batesville. Even if you can’t ski on tall mountains in Indiana (I’m not forgetting about Perfect North) the theme is education everywhere. It shows someone taking new limits, trying new things. Skiing is not something you can do and learn in seconds it takes time. When I say time, I mean years of practice. I started skiing when I was 6. I’m 11 now and I’m still learning new things. See, education doesn’t have to take place in one area every time. You learn when you find new things, so go try skiing yourself, you might like it.”

BCEF’s Art on Main program features artwork from students from the four Batesville Community School Corporation (BCSC) buildings on a rotating basis. BCEF would like to thank Jimmy Rowland from Rowland Graphics, who donates his company’s time to install every mural, and Nick Maple, owner of the building, who provides the use of his location for the display. In addition, a special thank you goes to art teacher Olivia Branch for her coordination and assistance and to BIS principal Dana Cassidy for her support. The BIS mural will be on display for a few months when artwork from the Batesville Middle School (BMS) will be installed.