MONONGAH, W.Va. (AP) - Art in the Park continues throughout the summer in different parks in Marion County.
On Tuesday afternoon, children were able to paint a mural on the rail trail at Monongah Park as well as participate in a Chihuly water bottle craft.
Art in the Park is in its second season to work with communities to improve the overall look of an area through art.
"Art in the Park is a free community program created to offer arts programming to the children in Marion County," Rebecca Moran, program director for Art in the Park, previously told the Times West Virginian.
"It is our hope that in addition to arts education, we can inspire the next generation of community activists by showing children how they can make a difference in their neighborhood through art."
The idea to paint the mural on the rail trail came from John Provins, the event director with the Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission (MCPARC).
"I meet with him every spring, and we kind of just brainstorm and talk about what the needs might be," Moran said. "He said 'You know what would be cool? If you could paint murals on the rail trail."'
Moran said at first she was hesitant.
"I talked to some people at Main Street Fairmont when they did the crosswalk murals last year, and they actually had leftover paint and said [they] could donate the paint and gave me some tips on how to use the paint and everything," she said. "So we are going to go for it."
Although Marion County owns the whole rail trail system, Moran said all the communities have been helpful.
"But all the communities, to use their park for any event, are really great to work with," she said. "Mannington, Monongah, City of Fairmont [and] MCPARC - you just call them and some you have forms you have to fill out, but I have never been told, 'No, you can't have that event at our park."'
After the mural project on Tuesday, participants were doing work on Chihuly-inspired chandeliers.
"Dale Chihuly is a glass artist. He does blown-glass work, and we are going to do the chandeliers out of recycled water bottles," Moran said. "The kids get to color them with Sharpee, cut them up, and then we use a hair dryer to melt them sort of like a shrinky-dink. Then we are going to make big chandeliers out of them and hang them, I believe, down at Palatine during Christmas time."
Also during the Art in the Park season, children of all ages get a chance to work on a Plexiglass project.
"Windmill Park and Bellview Park are each getting a pergola (an archway in a garden or park consisting of a framework covered with trained climbing or trailing plants) and the Plexiglass is going to be the roof of that pergola," Moran said.
Audrey Eakin participated on the mural on the rail trail at Monongah Park on Tuesday.
Her grandparents Scott and Patty Slagle said that the activity would be beneficial to her in more ways then one.
"We thought it was important for her," Scott Slagle said. "The fact is that one, it teaches citizenship. It teaches pride in the community, and you are contributing and volunteering to the community."
He also said it is also going to teach her a new skill.
"She is going to learn how to paint a little bit, which helps, and it teaches teamwork," Scott said. "Right now she is in a teamwork situation where everybody goes for the goodness of the group effort. And those are the things we looked at, and that is the reason we strongly encouraged it."
Although it took a little pushing to get Eakin to go, he hopes afterward she will walk away and think that it was neat.
"Next time it may be a little easier because we both feel this is important," Scott said. "We live in a community. We have to invest in the community as an adult or nothing gets done."
Patty Slagle said they have been trying to keep Eakin enjoying activities outdoors all summer.
"[We have been] working with her and trying to find different things so that [she is] not just glued to the computer [and] glued to electronics," she said. "[Scott] has done really well trying to find things."
Other activities are still scheduled throughout the rest of summer:
- Trail murals will again be painted at Worthington Park at 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 19 and 10 a.m. Friday, July 22.
- Mosaics and Little Library will take place at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 26 and 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 2 at Fifth Street Park.
- Painting of a mural for Merchant Street will take place at 2 p.m. Tuesday Aug. 9 and 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 12 at Palatine Park.
- Art in the Park will take place during the First Friday event at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 5 and 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2 in downtown Fairmont.
- Reading Nook will be at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16 and 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 19 at Hough Park.