Eye-popping art, unlikely places
Artwork decorating Livonia Churchill students’ parking spaces brighten the lot.
Drab parking lots are being decorated, all for a good cause
Eye-pleasing art exhibits are popping up in the unlikeliest places in metro Detroit.
Using a creative collision of self expression and fundraising, several school districts are allowing senior high school students to paint the parking spaces they reserve at the beginning of each school year for a price (Livonia Public Schools, for instance, charges a fee of $30).
Websites have even been developed – www.trianglesenioryear.com and www.lolalambchops.com to name two – to give seniors space-decorating ideas
“Our program is basically a senior class fundraiser to raise money for the senior class account,” said Livonia Churchill Activities Director Paul Mercier. “We then use this account for things such as the class gift at the end of the year and decorations at prom.
“We usually have between 50 and 60 seniors participate. I think many of them like to be able to pick their own spot, so that is an added benefit. If the spot is already painted, the students then need to paint over it in black paint first before beginning their painting.”
Warren and Plymouth-Canton schools are among the metro-Detroit districts that are offering the imaginative programs.
The quality of artwork decorating otherwise mundane parking lots is, in a lot of cases, off-the-charts spectacular – and humorous, if you’re a fan of, say, SpongeBob Squarepants (whose image appears on side-by-side parking spaces in the Canton High School student lot) or Shrek, a spitting-image painting of whom is looking up at visitors in Churchill’s lot.
“Most of the students do all of the painting themselves; however, I’ve definitely seen some parents out there helping as well,” Mercier added.
Set featurFor Livonia’s three public high schools, painted spaces are limited to the first 100 senior applicants at each school. The window for painting in 2021 was Aug. 30 through Sept. 17 and students were required to clean up the surroundings once their masterpieces were completed.
The use of water-based latex paints was encouraged, with spray paints, oil-based paints and glitter included on the “not allowed” list of materials.
Not surprisingly, offensive, negative or rude language are disallowed, the official document emphasizes.
In addition to humor-based art, students adorned their parking spaces with everything from an image that resembled a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, athletics-inspired drawings and thought-provoking phrases.
One Churchill senior colored his or her spot with a drawing of Star Wars icon Yoda with the words: Senior I Am 2022.
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