Nature Center Volunteers Paint Downtown Mural

The Main Street Mural in downtown Boise currently features a riverscape and colorful salmon painted by Roosevelt Elementary sixth-graders, Morrison Knudsen Nature Center staff, and Idaho Master Naturalists, and other volunteers. The mural project calls attention to the 20th anniversary of the MK Nature Center is sponsored by the Boise Department of Arts and History, Ada County Highway District with donations from Guild Mortgage and Home Depot. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game's MK Nature Center opened in 1990. The 4.6 acre wildlife habitat features underwater fish viewing windows, educational programs for school groups, and public events. The Nature Center serves more than 175,000 visitors a year. On Friday, February 19, the Roosevelt Elementary students who painted the large fish for the mural will be on site finishing their designs. MK Nature Center staff members will be there to kick off the anniversary celebration. The mural was designed and painted with community involvement. Nature Center community service volunteers scraped and prepped the wooden fish. Laura Stewart's sixth-graders from Roosevelt Elementary School painted the large wooden fish that are affixed to the mural. Idaho Master Naturalist volunteers helped paint the mural. The design features large fish swimming. The design represents the Nature Center's unique fish viewing opportunities. Bubbles from the fishes' mouths are logos of the center's major partners, including Idaho Master Naturalists, Idaho Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Think Boise First, Be Outside, U.S. Forest Service, City of Boise. Susan Ziebarth from the Nature Center spearheaded the project. She designed the mural, gathered supplies, organized and supervised the help, and did much of the painting herself.