Transformation: How Art Ed student Ailisha unearthed her inner extrovert

What happens when you spend six years steeped in Mural Arts’ art education classes and programs? For vivacious sixteen-year-old Ailisha, the answer is simple: total transformation.

Mural Arts started out as a convenient outlet for Ailisha, who goes by Ail. Her mother, tired of seeing Ail sitting at home alone, scribbling over every available scrap of paper, started researching summer art classes for Ailisha. Back then, shy ten-year-old Ail had a best friend in music, something rich and comforting, and the beautiful inner world of her books, but had trouble connecting to others her own age. She smiles when she talks about her younger self:

“I cannot stress how much of an introvert I was. I would be reading Anne of Green Gables when everyone else was playing in gym.”

It’s hard to see even a shadow of an introvert in the poised, smiling, bubbly young woman talking fluidly and insightfully about Mural Arts and the world around her.  She still loves books, but now, she has a host of friends and mentors who make up her Mural Arts family. Through six years of classes, Ail has developed her artistic voice, exploring the realms of drawing, painting, tile, and sculpture, and while she’s strengthened her art, she’s undergone a personal renaissance.

Ail claims it’s the atmosphere that sets the tone for everything else – an atmosphere cultivated by the teachers. They strike the right balance: it’s friendly, encouraging, challenging, and completely unique. Ail sums up that special something: “It doesn’t feel like what I’ve heard people describe as the atmosphere of a job or work. It feels like home away from home.”