Mural created by Bloomington, Guatemalan students needs a new home

“The intent was to have an international art exchange among the kids here and the kids in Guatemala. It was about the mural, but it was more about connecting the kids and then learning and interacting in each other’s cultures,” said Gracia Valliant, a retired school administrator who helped organize the trip.

But now, the Bloomington mural’s fate is uncertain.

Plans have been made to tear down the building where the mural hangs along the B-Line Trail between Kirkwood Avenue and Sixth Street. That means the artwork needs a new home.

Sara Irvine was a teacher at Templeton Elementary School when the mural was created. She and Valliant had traveled to Guatemala, and that trip is what led them to come up with the idea of making the murals.

But the murals were never just about the students. In Guatemala, residents were invited to pick up a paintbrush and help. Others left their handprints in the mural, as well as thread that symbolized not only the textillery business that housed the mural but the small connection it had to the wider world.

Bloomington’s mural had a similar feature. While it was being painted, walkers along the B-Line Trail were encouraged to leave a thumbprint and initials on the border. Some prints were made into people, some into animals.