Marco Cartolan - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Read original article on the Worcester Telegram & Gazette website
WORCESTER — When the curtain came down on a new mural for the Girl Scouts, the yells and cheers of the scouts who inspired the design could be heard from across the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts' office.
Scouts from the YWCA's Clark Street Community School after school program who ranged from grades kindergarten through six got the chance to see their painted counterparts for the first time.
The new mural was unveiled at the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts' Worcester Leadership Center at 115 Century Drive.
The mural features five Girl Scouts in a scenic outdoor area with plenty of flowers, trees and even a rainbow. The girls are wearing the colors that signify their grade levels and holding or carrying various items associated with lesson the Girl Scouts looks to impart on scouts such as paint brushes for creativity, a little robot and calculator for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and the famous types of Girl Scout cookies for entrepreneurship.
The five girls on the mural are also racially diverse and one is using a wheelchair.
"We want everybody to see themselves as somebody who can become a Girl Scout," Theresa Lynn, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts, said.
The mural also includes patches representing some of the organization's values such as helpfulness, respecting others and being considerate.
In addition to reflecting the values of the Girl Scouts, the mural adds vibrancy to the entrance of the leadership center's makerspace, a room filled with creative activities that Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts wants to use as a welcoming space for scouts, potential scouts and other community members.
"This is a community space. We want people to feel welcome here — to be able to use it," Lynn said.
The mural was created by Sharinna Travieso, a Worcester native and artist who contributed to several murals downtown. She spent over a month sketching and painting the mural.
"It definitely brings this space to life," Travieso said. "This is a space that is already colorful with all the girls being here and it just needed that actual pop of color to it."
At the start, Travieso worked with the scouts from the Clark Street after-school program to come up with design ideas that would make the girls excited to see the mural. The girls' ideas included the rainbow and a series of lines painted on the left side of the mural.
"I was definitely inspired by (the Girl Scouts') sketches," Travieso said. "In their own way they drew these things out and I interpreted what they had came up with."
The Worcester Arts Council funded half the cost of the mural.