Painting the town positive

Loveland Middle School art teacher and his students are painting Loveland businesses with a positive look

By Julia Quigley, LHS Student Reporter

LOVELAND, OH (November 4, 2020)  – Jeff Flaig, art teacher at Loveland Middle School, (LMS) and his students are working to spread artwork and positivity throughout the community, one business at a time.

After Life Food Pantry reached out to the schools for assistance in decorating their new storefront, Flaig volunteered to seek any students who were interested in helping. A number of LMS art students took part in fall-themed window paintings at the food pantry. They’ll be decorating the store for winter, spring, and summer to give seasonal updates throughout the year. The students were given their creative freedom to decorate for the fall season, and kept the primary focus of their artwork on inclusivity.

 The goal of the designs is to focus on each season, rather than the holidays within the seasons, to create artwork that is inclusive for all community members. 

The project was also intended to give students a way to put their artwork out there for a greater audience to see.

“So many students create great work here at school on a regular basis, but it’s not every day where the community gets to see the great results,” said Flaig. “The Arts is a great way to get many talented students noticed throughout the community. Whether it’s athletic talents, musical talents or visual artistic talents on display, Loveland has so much to offer the community. It’s my goal to provide students the chance to get their talents out there to be showcased for everyone to enjoy.”     

Lillianne Fehrenbach is one of the students who participated in the paintings at Life Food Pantry.

“It was very fun, problems came up and we learned how to overcome them and we just keep getting better,” she said. “The paintings did take a while, but that only makes the end product feel more deserved.”      

Flaig’s students also painted Montgomery Cyclery’s windows in Loveland last Friday, (Friday, October 30,) to raise support for a young Loveland student battling cancer.     

“My favorite design was Grant’s Wolf Pack because it had a lot of meaning and it raises more awareness for Grant,” Fehrenbach said. “I definitely made some great memories. It makes me very happy that I have things to look back on that make me feel like I made an impact on the world. Things like these are what make you sleep better at night. I learned that if you have the opportunity to make a change, it is your duty to take it.”

Piper Schaeffer also enjoyed participating in the paintings at both locations.

“It was so fun! The painting took a while but it was spent well,” said Schaeffer. “I loved painting the wolf the most. I learned that painting on windows takes multiple layers and that it can get pretty cold painting for a while, also that Mile 42 hot chocolate is so good.”

 Flaig says the next business to be painted will be The Works. Once approved, students will also be painting in downtown Loveland near the Loveland Music Academy. After those locations are complete, student artists will seek more places as canvas space and possibly move from window paintings to another form of design.