Solanco High School art teacher Kesse Humphreys and three of his students helped to decorate New Hope's new home.

Ashlyn Brown, Arabelle Loggins, and Kieyo Culberson painted a mural in the play therapy room for children at the New Hope Counseling Center in Quarryville.

The nonprofit group and the students were an ideal match. Former New Hope executive director Deb Riddell was seeking some assistance to beautify a space in the recently dedicated Emory D. Wagner Building while Humphreys was looking for an outside project for his pupils.

"I want to do more community art activities with the students so they can get out in the community more and meet people and see places and feel more comfortable and part of what the community is," said Humphreys. "As they get older and maybe open a business, maybe they'll think about the school and want a mural in their space."

New Hope provides counseling at Solanco High School. During its recent capital campaign to raise money to purchase the building, a committee member suggested that Riddell reach out to Humphreys about a mural, and the teacher immediately expressed interest. "I thought this would further the connection (with New Hope) just by putting the art here," he said. "Having this mural is inspiration for the kids."

Several students and Humphreys' student teacher, Niya Zurcher, sent sketches to Riddell, who provided feedback but insisted only that the words "hope" and "restoration" appear on the mural because they are included in the organization's mission statement.

The final design incorporated elements from several sources, including Zurcher, who participated in the early stages of the mural before her time at Solanco ended on May 9.

Ashlyn's input was highly influential. "They wanted a garden theme, so I just looked for some inspiration on Pinterest," she said. "I saw a garden with stepping stones and thought it would be cute because you're on your way to hope. You're on a pathway to a better mental state. I feel like stepping stones are a really good way to represent that."

The word "hope" on the mural is made of stepping stones and is surrounded by flowers such as cherry blossoms, forget-me-nots, sunflowers, and a lotus. "I wanted to incorporate a bunch of flowers that represent hope," said Ashlyn. "I thought that would be a fun idea to include the garden aspect they wanted."

Arabelle and Kieyo were happy to join the team. "They needed some more helping hands," Arabelle said. "I live close by (New Hope), so I thought I would help. I thought it would be a fun project. I helped with a mural at the school, and I thought this would be a fun thing to do."

Humphreys and the students spent an hour weekly working on the mural in order to finish before summer break.

"I really like the idea of the experience I can get from this," Kieyo said. "I want to be an artist as an adult for my main job and source of income, so I thought this would be a good place to start."

She also appreciates the theme of the mural. "I like the idea of hope," said Kieyo. "Sometimes it can be difficult for people to come by, and I think it's a good idea to share and inspire in others."

Ashlyn enjoys knowing numerous kids and their families will view the team's work. "I think it will make me feel really good," Ashlyn said. "I already had a few people see my work because of the (county) art show, and that was such a crazy experience. I didn't realize how good that makes you feel until I actually went through it. I think it will be really cool to have people see something I worked on with people I care about. ... I hope it will inspire (the kids). I hope they will see it and say, 'Whoa, that's really cool. I hope I can do that, too.'"