Joe Jarosz
Northeast News
Dec. 5, 2014

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KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The former Scarritt Elementary School just got a little more artful.

Hector Casanova and his students from the Kansas City Art Institute, installed eight more murals along the Anderson Avenue block of the former Scarritt Elementary School, 3509 Anderson Ave., on Wednesday, Dec. 3. Students had a chance to do final touch-ups on the murals on the cold December day.

At 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 8, at the Mattie Rhodes Center, 148 N. Topping Ave., Casanova and his students will host a community meeting and presentation on the Scarritt Mural Project. The students will discuss the meaning, process and work that went into making each mural section. Casanova said he will also begin seeking feedback and input from the community for Phase 3, which will take place in August 2015. There will be no work on the mural project during the spring. All the art was executed in the KCAi Illustration Studio by the students

“This project has been very well received by the community, and I am really proud of the students, who have done remarkable work,” Casanova said. “I chose to teach this class so I could use students on a large scale project of community beautification, and to teach them about the power of art and the societal responsibilities of being an artist. But the way this project has come together has exceeded my wildest expectations.”