By Stefanie Lojko – Staff Reporter

Jonathan Law’s National Art Honor Society’s newest project is underway. They decided to paint the stairway closest to the library as books that many students have read in high school. The titles include “The Great Gatsby,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Eleanor and Park,” “Fahrenheit 45,” and more. Advocate staff reporter Stefanie Lojko interviewed Ashley Hallengren, one of the presidents of NAHS, about the project.

Stefanie Lojko: How did you get the idea to paint the stairs as book?

Ashley Hallengren: The book idea was definitely a group effort because we were looking for something that would be easily approved for school, but we wanted to do more than just put colors down. The size and shape of the panels on the front of the stairs is very similar to that of the side of a book so it worked out well. Besides, we thought that painting the books on the steps will promote reading literature in a fun way. We hope that it will make people more excited to read these great books throughout high school.

SL: What was the process of getting approved to do the stairs?

AH:  To get approved we first had to run the idea by (art teacher) Mrs. Murphy. After that we had two meetings with Mr. Thompson and once he talked to the facilities people we were all set to go.

SL: What kind of paint is being used and how is it working on the stairs?

AH:  The paint wasn’t really the big factor in being able to paint on the stairs. We had to more so focus on the primer that we put down and then we were able to paint with regular acrylic. We will seal the final product with a sealant so the paint lasts.

SL: Why do you think it’s a good project for everyone to do together?

AH:  We thought it’d be ideal for a group project since everyone would get to do their own separate step and incorporate their own style into it.

SL: When do you expect it to be finished?

AH:  We actually have a loose deadline to be done by early June.