STEPS XYZ Club Turns SHS Parking Lot into Art Space
According to Rich Aroian, principal of Southington High School, the school’s administration had long toyed with the idea of allowing students who park at the high school to paint designs on their assigned spaces. But because the project was such a formidable undertaking, with many details that needed to be sorted out, it sat on the back burner for a long time.
That all changed last year when the high school’s STEPS XYZ Club – which focuses on promoting healthy lifestyle choices – took the lead.
“The leadership of STEPS XYZ made a proposal last year about using this as a fundraiser,” Aroian said. “They wanted seniors who park to paint their own spaces. We looked at their proposal and came back to them with questions. They answered all our questions. Superintendent Madancy and [Board of Education Chair] Oshana signed off on it. So it happened.”
From that point on, the club took over most of the planning. “Tony Loomis, who is the head of STEPS XYZ, oversaw it with his leadership team,” Aroian said. “Roughly 140 seniors paid $25 each to paint their parking space. All those funds will go to the STEPS XYZ club.”
“A few Saturdays ago we had a Community Day. We had at least a hundred families out there cleaning up spaces, putting coats of primer down, bringing their own paint and brushes. They had to submit their designs ahead of time to make sure there were no concerns; there were none. It was fantastic. Tony was out there with water and music. It was a great day.”
Aroian speculated that there will be a follow-up event early next year. “We’ll probably do something in the spring for students who got the licenses during the school year. It’s up to Mr. Loomis and the club, but I would love to see a spring community day. We are also thinking of having a contest, but we’re still figuring out how to do that.”
One unknown in this endeavor is how well the paintings will survive the elements, and the winter’s snowfall: “Truthfully, I don’t know,” Aroian said. “Sometimes we get no snow, sometimes we get a boatload. We gave everyone specifics on what kind of brushes, what kind of paint to use. The first coat is always primer. I imagine they won’t be as bright, but we’ll see.”
As for next year’s cohort of seniors who drive to school, they will have a variety of options when it comes to their space. “If a sibling wants their brother’s or sister’s same spot, we’ll allow them to have it. Anybody else who gets the spot can either leave it alone or they can pay $25 and do what these kids did.”
The event raised several thousand dollars for STEPS XYZ, which they will use to host club-related events. “Last year STEPS XYZ did a hobby fair that cost a fair amount, bringing in vendors to promote all sorts of hobbies,” Aroian said.
Aroian stressed that the project was about community building as well as fundraising and public art. “I was thrilled to see parents and siblings and friends painting together," he said. "It wasn’t just one kid per space. It really brought people together.”
In October, Southington Outsider photographer John McDonald of CTPhotoPro took drone photos of all of the painted parking spaces. A selection of these is presented below. A complete gallery can be found on Facebook at this link.
