When shoppers approach a busy entrance to the Town Center at Boca Raton, they are greeted by a panel of murals, including a seaside sunset scene painted by Palm Beach Atlantic students.
Five students in Professor Heather Couch’s crafts class painted the “Welcome to Boca” mural.
Stella Costin’s peers elected her to coordinate the project, and Lexi Timbinaris provided artistic leadership to the team that included Kaelin DeNeui, Jeremy Garrett and William Shell.
For her winning design, Timbinaris drew inspiration from “the beach and the beautiful sunsets that we have here.” She wanted to make something that “looked like a postcard” to serve as a photo op for people, she said.
Students from Professor Heather Couch’s crafts class work on a mural designed by Lexi Timbinaris.The design fits with Boca Raton and “the Florida area, which is paradise,” said Costin, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, who is studying studio art with a minor in education and business.
The students completed the mural over the course of five class periods this spring, each about two hours long.
A rain shower interfered with the students’ work only once or twice, and in the heat, the paint sometimes dried faster than they could blend it, Costin said.
Timbinaris, a junior from Los Angeles studying graphic design, said she gravitates toward drawing with pencil and wanted to get more practice with painting. Her PBA class emboldened her to explore the possibilities, she said.
“This is good practice for me. I had never painted on a canvas that big, so that was pretty cool,” Timbinaris said.
The mural was only one of the students’ projects. They completed other projects, including calligraphy and copper enamel assignments, Costin said.
Costin and her mom and Timbinaris and some friends are planning a trip back to the mall to see the finished mural.
“It’s so exciting, being able to be a part of something that’s going to be there for so many years that people are going to see on a daily basis,” Timbinaris said.
The students had fun working together on the mural and are contemplating another in the fall, Costin said.
“We were very excited when it was done and very proud of what we accomplished,” Costin said. “It’s really fun knowing that a piece of art I worked on is for everyone to see.”