Local artists give lively look to Selinsgrove pool
Jun. 23—SELINSGROVE — Local artists worked around the clock painting a mural on the side of the Selinsgrove Community Pool building in time for its opening earlier this month.
The project, which began last fall, is supported by the nonprofit group, Student/Teen Artist Resource Team (START) which provides local youth an opportunity to work in the community, as well as members of the Selinsgrove Area High School Art Honor Society, college students and other residents.
Working on a large scale art project is a way to bring the community together since people of all artistic abilities can participate, Selinsgrove resident and Bloomsburg University art student Ciera Zacek said.
"It's very easy to get kids involved," she said.
Dozens of people painted a mural featuring the seven seas — the Arctic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian, and Southern oceans — on the back side of the facility facing the pool.
START board member and Selinsgrove borough councilman Chris Kalcich worked on his portion of the mural until 1 a.m. June 11, hours before the swimming pool opened for the season.
"I popped over there this past Saturday and saw (the completed mural) in the light of day for the first time. It looks great," said Kalcich.
Work on the mural will continue, with plans to paint the front side of the building facing the parking lot this summer, he said.
Selinsgrove Area Recreation Inc. chairman and council member Richard Mease said the artists were allowed to decide the mural design but were asked that the artwork be interactive.
"We wanted it to be educational," he said.
So, within the mural of the oceans are specific aquatic life associated with each sea and markings that pool goers can identify.
The mural is helping to lift the community pool profile and highlight its fundraising efforts for a three-phase improvement project.
SARI is in the midst of a $270,000 renovation including the installation of two lap swimming lanes, a new diving board and refinishing of the pool floor and walls.
Mease said two more phases are planned, contingent on funding.
The SARI board would like to replace the kiddie pool with a 50-foot by 50-foot splash pad this fall at a cost of about $200,000 and install $75,000 worth of solar panels, Mease said.
Zacek, who is working on the pool mural, would like to see the local business community embrace the art form.
"We hope that with the publicity the pool is getting that more businesses will want to get in on the colorful fun," she said.
