New mural at St. Augustine Prep is a symbol of unity and perseverance

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- There's a new colorful mural that will instantly catch your eye inside St. Augustine Prep on Milwaukee's south side.

One thousand students and members of the community came together to design individual tiles, and when put together they create a lion, and a much bigger purpose. 

"This is an example, again, of the creativity we all had to overcome the last couple of years," said Kelsey Brenn, the school's chief financial officer. 

The lion is St. Augustine Prep's mascot, but it also became a symbol of perseverance for students and staff as they navigated the pandemic. 

"We stood in lines, and we sent Chromebooks home, and we did it," said Brenn. "We had K4 classes live online with the teachers, and that was really just a story of adversity and coming together and pushing through." 

That's what it took to create the lion as well. One by one, each tile came together to make the mural. 

"This is like a baby chick hatching out of the egg and looking out to the side and this is a little bunny squinting a little bit," said Clarke Hamilton. 

Hamilton is a senior at St. Augustine Prep. She says virtual learning was a time with a lot of unknowns for her and her classmates. 

"Art was definitely a part of keeping me calm, getting out my emotions," said Hamilton. 

Remote learning also caused unanticipated costs for the school. That along with the lack of school fundraisers meant staff needed to get creative. 

"We had them at our school picnics, we mailed them out, we had some at the front desk the other day," said Brenn. 

More than 60 donors purchased the tiles to donate or decorate themselves, and it helped the school raise money too. 

"Doing it together as a community," said Brenn. 

Brenn says the mural will be on the school wall for years to come, and it will always be a reminder of how the community overcame a challenging time.