Sesame Street mural touched up at Jefferson School in Ottawa

“Imagine and Learn With Bob McGrath,” better known as the “Sesame Street” mural on the east side of Jefferson Elementary School in Ottawa, was updated over the summer after the school teamed up with A Brush With History.

A Brush With History Chairwoman Peg Breslin said they hired Thomas Melvin, a Chicago artist who also painted the three-panel image at the First National Bank.

Marc Tabor, Ottawa Elementary's Director of Maintenance, said the project came about when it was discovered the school district's renovation would mean parts of the mural would be affected by tuck pointing that needed to happen on the east side of the building.

Tabor said Breslin went to work right away seeking out an artist and coordinating dates and times the artist could work with the school.

"It was very, very tedious work," Breslin said of Melvin's job. "He tried when he had one color out to do all of the work with just that color that he could before he needed a new one. It's just so intricate that he'd always have to go back."

Breslin said Melvin would occasionally ask for help and have someone stand back and see if anything needed touched up.

The painting was originally designed and painted by Vicki Crone, who Breslin said was consulted on the project. She visited Ottawa to give final approval on the painting.

"She thought it was an excellent matchup for the work she had done," Breslin said. "One of the biggest problems Thomas would tell you was getting the color just right. It's just a tremendous number of colors in that piece, many different shades and hughes. He earned his pay, that's for sure."

Tabor said the work was made possible with help from Dave Damyen from MH Equipment, who donated a scissor lift that allowed Melvin to reach the higher portions of the mural and from Conroy Towing, who donated their services to deliver the lift and return it to MH Equipment.

A Brush With History started in 2000 in an effort to revive Ottawa’s downtown.