>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

DEFINING FAMILY: Eastern Oregon University students Benjamin Holtby and Melinda Hassinger work on a mural at the Third Street Station boarding house. Following a general theme of family, each individual mural depicts interpretations of what family means. Holtby's and Hassinger's mural is a park scene showing diverse kinds of families enjoying the great outdoors. (The Observer/LAURA MACKIE-HANCOCK).

By Jeff Petersen

Staff Writer

n any number of towns, from The Dalles to Toppenish, Wash., to Chemainus, B.C., mural viewing is an outdoor sport.

In La Grande it just moved indoors.

That's thanks to Jessica Plattner's Design One class. The Eastern Oregon University assistant professor of art had the idea to build a bridge between the campus and the community — and to give her students a more real-world view of art in the neighborhood.

"At the same time, Steve Votaw of Third Street Station was looking for a way to brighten up his boarding house, and we quickly realized that this was the perfect opportunity to make that link."

It's working.

The past three weeks, for a couple of hours each schoolday, the students have been painting in a hallway at Third Street Station. The boarding house partners with Community Connection and Shelter From the Storm to house people in need.

"It looks pretty cool," says Josh Votaw, Third Street Station manager. "It adds to the atmosphere of the place."

For many of the students, the art class will be their only immersion in art during college. But they're making the most of it.

"We're combining the theme of a train station with the theme of our class this term, family," says Kendall Hagen, a junior from Ojai, Calif., as she puts finishing touches on a train in one of the six murals being done by small groups of students.

The work starts on campus, adds Kevin Berryman, a sophomore from Baker City.

"As a group, we did a sketch and a painting at EOU," he says. "Then we make a transparency and use an overhead (projector) to transfer the image onto a wall."

As a visitor walks the hallway in progress, he witnesses various interpretations of the family themes. Not all are human. A summer firefighter has drawn a family of helicopters.

Other students take the topic more literally. One has drawn her wedding party. Another chose single moms and their kids. Yet another her softball team.

Another? Left-handed twins.

One is a map that connects the places where the three painters, all members of the EOU football team, live, from the coast to the Magic Valley of Idaho. A decorative compass in the upper right corner orients viewers.

"Each of these sections represents a window on the train, because the Votaws wanted the mural to connect with the nearby railroad. It was a challenge for the students to link their ideas of family with the clients' desire for a train theme," Plattner says.

The class project is the first of its kind for Plattner, and may be repeated in the future.

"This is good for students in a 100-level class," she says. "It lets them see that art is more than just a series of empty exercises. It helps them use

art to connect with people in the community."

Plattner encourages her students to come up with their own ideas. The project has helped them learn to coordinate with others and to collaborate.

She says working with Third Street Station has been a good fit.

"It's a family-run business, and our theme of family this terms fits well. This place is all about the community family."

The project includes not just students from all over America but the world as well. One group includes international students from Japan, Mexico and Zimbabwe.

The students are painting a train engine, working in Spanish, English and Japanese.

"It expands our community, our family, to the international family," Plattner says.

Tenants at Third Street Station have said they really like the makeover that is transforming the former nursing home to a less institutional look.

Says Cliff Griffin, "I can see they take pride in their work."

He should know. The murals are right where he lives.