Parents give Crystal Lake elementary school a makeover

Students of Husmann Elementary School in Crystal Lake will be walking into the new school year this fall to find hallways filled with colors.

Husmann’s Parent Teacher Organization is redecorating the school’s main hallway and lobby with painted murals that transform the beige palette to a kaleidoscope of colors.

“These kids really deserve fun, live, beautiful things and colorful spaces.”

—  Parent Sara Jean Stephens

Husmann’s PTO President Amy Pascoe had a plan to beautify the interior of the building when parent and mural artist Sara Jean Stevens approached the organization with the proposal to paint murals in the school.

The plan was described by Stevens as “serendipitous.”

The Husmann Elementary school, 131 W. Paddock St., was built in 1978. The original interior of the school “needed some color,” Stevens said.

“Our school is so old. We love it but it is so drab and these are little kids that need brightness,” Pascoe said.

The lobby now is filled with an abstract pattern that resembles stained glass. The hallway will have a more simple design so the ever changing bulletins and student art can stand out. All of the older artwork will be moved to an auditorium to have an historic area, Pascoe said.

Husmann’s school colors are yellow and purple, which Stevens took as inspiration and built off of that by adding blues, pinks and greens.

Some teachers that saw the lobby said “it’s so happy,” to Stevens, which she said is exactly what she is going for.

“These kids really deserve fun, live, beautiful things and colorful spaces,” Stevens said.

Stevens has been creating interior murals for the past six years and started her own company Moth and Moon Co. She describes her work as colorful and “whimsical,” with designs of abstract murals to vibrant scenes of plants and flowers.

Stevens moved to Crystal Lake two years ago from Berwyn. She has a child attending Husmann and her other two children will be attending in the future.

JC Licht donated the paint used for the project. Stevens said she picked up about 10 gallons of paint from the downtown Crystal Lake store a couple days before the fire broke out downtown on June 8.

Stevens plans to have everything finished before the first day of school on Aug. 16.

Husmann PTO’s purpose is to support students and staff by building a community. It is completely run on volunteer work. They are able to fund their projects and activities through fundraising events. This year’s read-a-thon brought in about $28,000.

“There are people that can’t give anything, but their kids are still benefiting because PTO is for everyone,” Pascoe said. “It’s for every single family and child at this school.”

For future beatification projects, Pascoe and Stevens want to fill the blank walls of the main stairwells. A goal of Stephen’s is to create a mural that the student could be able to participate in.

“That’s our hope, that the brightness of it will bring cheer and better attitudes,” Pascoe said.