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Students make downtown more festive with custom window paintings

SALYERSVILLE – Magoffin County High School’s Gifted and Talented art students’ work on proud display in downtown Salyersville, with the group painting windows at Frazier Prater Drug, the Seasonal Shoppe and Caldwell’s Used Furniture.

Local business owner Bekah Frazier Rudd reached out to Jerica Conley, the Magoffin County Schools Gifted and Talented Coordinator, letting her know they had some window space free to showcase young artists.

“I worked with Andrea Parsons and had our Gifted and Talented students turn in some designs, and then they spent about a week free-handing their own designs, drawing on the designs with paint pens then painting them all by hand,” Conley said.

In time for the Christmas parade, held last weekend, the group hand-painted some classic Christmas characters, including the snowman from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Snoopy, Frosty, the Miser Brothers, the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who, as well as some original designs, such as an anime version of “Home Alone.”

“When Bekah first came to me with the idea, I had no idea what she was talking about and we’ve not painted the windows downtown in years, but this was such a great opportunity for them and it allows us to show off our students’ talents,” Conley said.

While the young artists may have been a little intimidated at first, Conley said she was able to watch their visions come to life.

“They put so much work into it,” Conley said. “I’d watch them paint something amazing, step back and erase it. Repaint it, then erase and repaint it all over, again, but they knew what they wanted it to look like and they had their own vision.”

The most impressive part of all? The group of 15 Magoffin County High School art students painted the windows all from the inside.

“It was all backwards to them as they were painting it, but they were amazing,” Conley said.

She also noted that the students were also thrilled to get to explore the old Alamo Theater, many of which never even knew used to be there.

“There’s a piano in there, and the popcorn machine and even an old pop can and they loved getting to explore that part of our past,” Conley said.

While the opportunity was new to these students, Conley said they will be doing this annually as long as the businesses are on board, though several businesses have already reached out wanting to participate since the paintings went up.

“The hospitality we received was just amazing,” Conley said, noting she used to work for Prater Drug and loved being back downtown, again. “Every person coming in and out were so nice, asking the kids what they were doing and encouraging them, and Prater Drug, the Seasonal Shoppe and Caldwell’s Furniture were all so good to us. It was such a good experience for them.”

Conley said this is her first year working with the Gifted and Talented program, having spent then last nine years in the classroom, but she’s enjoying working with students across the district.

“I love finding ways to bring out their talents and be able to showcase them to the community,” Conley said. “It’s definitely a challenge, but this job is very special to me.”

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