Mural brings color, character to St. John

Visitors to St. John can catch a glimpse of our region's scenery not just in the rolling hills that surround them, but in the colorful mural being painted by Kat Wiley.

A June graduate of St. John/Endicott High School, Wiley undertook the mural project as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a girl scout can earn. In doing so, she will draw upon a lifelong passion for art to cap a 13-year career as a girl scout.

"I settled on the idea of a mural because I'm a very artistic person. I just love everything with the arts," she said.

Wiley's mural on the wall of St. John Hardware & Implement, which she calls "an abstract Palouse landscape," features golden fields of wheat, a winding river and wildlife such as deer and birds. She began the planning process for the mural in December, and hopes to have it completed before she leaves for Panama in July for a Girl Scout retreat to a sea turtle refuge and begins classes at Lewis & Clark State College shortly after.

A number of local residents and businesses have lent Wiley a helping hand, donating paint, primer, brushes and even a hydraulic lift for Wiley to paint from.

She is also enlisting the eager help of St. John and Endicott elementary students, who are painting a pair of murals of their own right below Wiley's. In recent months, Wiley visited elementary classes to teach the kids how to draw inspiration from their favorite aspects of life on the Palouse and turn it into a collaborative painting for all to see.

"I was very pleased with the way the kids worked together," Wiley said. "It's all their ideas, I just taught them how to get their ideas from their head to the wall."