Creating art at Echo Lake Elementary brought the community together

Community art project at Echo Lake Elementary shows their heart
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

By Kaija Dalan

The Echo Lake Elementary PTA started doing a community art night as a way to both beautify the school and connect as a school community. 

Art brings people together and it is one of the easiest ways to open conversations with others. It was so fun to watch both kids and parents be creative.

They were painting 4x4 squares of wood. Being only 4x4 they didn’t have to make anything elaborate so pressure was low.

I never know exactly how things will turn out. I have a tentative plan in my head but kids are hard to plan for, so flexibility and adaptability are critical.

When all the pieces were done, and ready to go on the fence along Ashworth at the school, we didn’t know exactly how we were going to hang them till we started. 

We tried different layouts on the sidewalk. The heart was created on the spot with all the assorted colored pieces. So it’s always cool to see how things turn out.

Kids love showing off what they did and trying to find their square on the fence.
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

PTA will continue to try to bring the community together with events like this, back to school bbq, trunk-or-treat, science night etc. 

Since Covid people are longing for the connections with others and the school. So we are trying to create new and reestablish old traditions to foster that.

 
Next year, and until the budget issue is rectified, we will need families at the school more than ever to support our kids and staff. 

We hope PTA events like this will help encourage families to participate in whatever manner that they can because they feel comfortable and connected and proud of the school. 

It took hundreds of hands to make the new art, each piece unique and different. It wouldn’t have been the same if just a few people did it. It took the whole Echo Lake community to make it as unique and special as it is.

Dunn Lumber graciously donated all the wood, so that was amazing. Big thank you to them for supporting local schools and the PTA.

The school is located at 19345 Wallingford Ave N, Shoreline, WA 98133