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Most artists would be intimidated by working on a canvas as large as a brick wall in a school cafeteria. But 19-year-old Aaron Quist saw his most recent project as a tremendous opportunity that he simply couldn’t pass up.

Quist, a 2003 graduate of Chisago Lakes High School, was asked this summer if he could paint a mural at Taylors Falls Elementary.

Food Service Director Judy Caroon approached Quist to transform a white brick wall in the school’s cafeteria into a large mural.

Quist knew it would be a challenge, particularly because he is fairly new to the painting medium.

“I designed the mural at the high school and they liked that,” Quist said. Although he wasn’t involved in the actual painting of the mural, CLHS art teacher Marlene Biondo suggested Quist for designing and painting the TF Elementary mural.

Quist was given a theme for the wall that reflects part of Taylors Falls history – the wannigan.

“They wanted a wannigan, some buildings and logs coming down the river,” Quist said.

He came up with a preliminary sketch and then stenciled the design onto the wall.

During the next three weeks, Quist used the stencils as a guide, but let the design flow together and change as he painted.

“The biggest challenge was that it’s so large,” Quist said. “It was hard to make everything fit and look right at that scale.”

He was also asked to continue the picture onto an awning over the food service door along the wall to make it all flow together, Quist said.

It was one of the first times Quist had painted anything, despite being a talented artist. At CLHS, he took several art classes and discovered a talent for it. He is now enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where he concentrates primarily on cartoon and major animation work.

When the mural was finished, Quist was pleased with what he saw. The bright blue water of a flowing river winds across the wall with a wannigan and a group of logs floating along in the water. The background and surrounding scenery includes bright green fields, log buildings, trees and wildlife.

“I’m glad it turned out like this,” he said on a recent visit back to the school.

He is even more pleased to see the Taylors Falls Elementary students looking at the mural. “It’s nice to see their reaction,” Quist said. He was on hand at the school’s open house in August to see the students walk into the cafeteria and view the mural for the first time.

Taylors Falls Elementary Principal Joe Thimm said everyone at the school is pleased with how the mural turned out – especially the kids. “They love sitting here and pointing out things in the picture,” he said. “The parents love it too because it includes local history and shows off a local high school artist.”

Quist gives credit to Biondo for being instrumental in developing his talent for art at CLHS. “She was a big influence on me and inspired me to do this,” he said.

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