Bridgeport Middle School Principal Carole Crawford was dabbling in the world of social media when she saw a painting that was done by Amanda Leaseburg of The Starving Artist. The photo shows a painting of wings outside of the studio and people can pose in front of it.

 

Immediately, Crawford had an idea pop into her head.

 

“I actually thought it would be cool to do the same thing, but we could use an Indian headdress,” said Crawford. “I thought maybe if we could paint it on the wall it would be something we could use to get new students to get a picture in front of it and introduce them to school or have students and others take a picture with it to show their school pride.”

 

Of course, having an idea is one thing. Executing that idea is another. In this case, putting the idea into motion required a quick phone call and then a quick conversation with a person Crawford knew could do the job.

 

“I contacted the studio and then Jenny Starkey-Reed who is an alumni of Bridgeport Middle School and she agreed to do it,” said Crawford.

 

Starkey-Reed was an obvious choice for more than just being a former student of the school. Crawford said Starkey-Reed’s mother taught at BMS and Starkey-Reed's own daughter will be a student at BMS next year. And for good measure, her husband Stephen Reed is a former Brave.

 

In fact, the married couple were part of the first-ever 8^th grade class to come out of the school.

 

There was one other thing – Starkey-Reed is a pretty talented artist. She is currently an instructor at the same business, The Starving Artist, where Crawford saw the original painting.

 

“Mrs. Crawford called The Starving Artist and I volunteered,” said Starkey-Reed. “Considering my connections to the school it seemed like the obvious thing to do.”

 

Within short order, Crawford’s idea was set in motion. And one recent day the former student was back in her old digs – this time in more of an official work capacity as opposed to one involving study.

 

“I showed up and it took about three to three and a half hours,” said Starkey-Reed, who donated her time to do the project. “It was a lot of fun to see the kids come by and watch. They had me roped off and some of the kids who are near my daughter’s age knew me and spoke to me. It was a great experience.”

 

Crawford said to give the former Brave the room needed to work without interruption, she was cordoned off with ropes. Of course, Crawford said it was theater-style velvet ropes.

 

“That was the really neat part about it. You would watch the kids go by and say ‘look, there’s an artist.’ I think they were excited seeing her do her work and we’re excited with the finished product,” said Crawford.

 

Ironically, it’s not the first project at BMS where Starkey-Reed painted on something that was meant to be permanent. During her time as a student, she actually did something that was supposed to have a long life span.

 

“My art teacher at the school, Mrs. Carr, had me help her paint the gym floor with the words ‘Braves’ before the first game that was played there,” said Starkey-Reed. “Something happened and they ended up removing that, but I can’t remember what it was. I guess this one might be a little more permanent.”