Republished from CJOnline.

Highland Park High School students will return to school this month with a new work of art adorning one of their halls.

A mural celebrating diversity was unveiled Monday by the YWCA of Topeka R.A.C.E. Committee, which commissioned the design by St. Louis artist and Kansas State University graduate Billy Williams. About 75 children, including YWCA day campers, painted the mural this summer.

Williams, who was at the school Monday to paint underneath the mural the names of the organizations and businesses that sponsored it, said diversity was the theme he was given. Those who look closely at Williams’ design will the shapes and postures of the people he depicted in the art form letters which spell out the word “unity.”

“It’s kind of hidden,” he said.

Williams laid out the outline of the mural, leaving it to the children to paint in the colors. None of those selected are the actual colors of any race or ethnicity. The blue, green and purple hues were the choice of the young artists and the adult painter who supervised their work, Linda Humphries, of the Topeka Art Guild.

“The kids were great,” Humphries said. “Once they saw it, they really went for it.”

The children ranged in age from 8 to 16. In addition to the mural, they also did individual collages with the assistance of two artists from the Chord and Oil art group.

Karl Fundenberger and Ashley Laird gave the young artists magazines and other material to take images from for their collages. At first, Fundenberger said, they chose celebrities or products they liked. However, the day campers also were getting presentations about different ethnic and cultural groups, and before the project ended, they were incorporating those ideas into their art.

The individual art projects will be displayed from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 20 at the next Thoughtful Thursdays program at the YWCA of Topeka, 225 S.W. 12th. Lover Chancler, YWCA racial justice director, said R.A.C.E., which stands for Resource and Advocacy for Change and Equity, Committee is working with the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site to have the collages displayed there in the future.

Chancler said she was pleased with those artworks and the mural.

“This project has been an incredible experience,” she said. “It is amazing to see a blank wall become something of value these students can take pride in developing.

Sponsors of the mural include: Chords and Oil, Topeka Arts Guild, ARTSConnect of Topeka, Golden City Sertoma, Diamond Vogel Paints, Benjamin Moore Allied Paint and Decorating, Color Works Paint and Supply, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Kiwanis Club of Topeka and the YWCA of Topeka.

Thoughtful Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 20