A new mural that graces a wall at the Viking School is due to the efforts of a Grade 12 student with an artistic flair.
The mural is on display just before entering the gymnasium, and highlights the two sports teams as a lasting legacy with the words: “Home of the Norseman and Vixens.” Above the words is a Viking ship floating on water and nestled into a fjord-like landscape.
The student who painted it is Heather Lawes, who estimates the mural to be about four feet tall and eight feet wide. It took her about a month to paint taking 10-12 days to complete over that time period.
Heather, 17, is in Grade 12 this year and, with only one in-person class a day, used her time well to make the artwork.
“So I had time when I can be at school and not in class,” she says. “In addition to the class, I am currently doing Art 30 online through BRACE, and I get to use the mural for one of my assignments.
“I used a combination of fusion mineral paint and acrylic paint,” she says. “I enjoy art, and did some training with a local artist about five years ago.”
Heather explains that a teacher asked her in February “to highlight the sports at the school,” and that is what started this project.
“I came up with the design and had it approved, then started painting the second week of March,” she said.
In the mural, she has depicted the Norsemen playing badminton and the Vixens are playing with a volleyball.
“It has been fun to work on it during the day because the elementary students were so excited to see it progress when they were walking to their classes,” she says.
Parents Mike and Kyla Lawes share in their daughter’s enthusiasm around the project.
“My parents are proud of me,” she says, “and they think it is great that I will leave a permanent legacy at the school.”
She will move on next year to study education with an English major and Art minor at the University of Alberta.
“I hope one day I might come back and teach here and see it again,” she says of the mural that will be in the school for posterity.
Patricia Harcourt
Editor
