FDL student paints large scale mural

FOND DU LAC - A senior at Fond du Lac High School has made a lasting mark in the halls.

Leah Fett has been working on a large scale mural since September, now in June that project is creating quite a buzz among her teachers.

"It starts off with To Kill a Mockingbird and then I tried to blend each of the scenes together," Fett explained, pointing to her design. "Moving into the next one is Romeo and Juliet."

Then comes the Tale of Two Cities and the Great Gatsby. They're all books Fond du Lac High students will read before they graduate.

"It was all her idea, she wanted to do pieces of literature and together we all chose our favorite pieces," teacher Tammy Chase said.

Fett began the project in September, after Fond du Lac teachers approached art students looking for someone to brighten up their halls.

The senior had never worked on something that scale, but dove into the project.

"I moved so slowly at first, like the first scene To Kill a Mockingbird took me about a month and a half," Fett said.

But she says she gained confidence and speed along the way.

Fett spent an hour of each school day working on the project to earn one class credit, but also donated her time, grabbing her paint three times a week after school.

"It definitely wasn't easy accomplishing this whole thing, sometimes it was very discouraging, like oh my gosh I'm never going to get done," she said.

Fett also worked full days on the weekends, as the year wound down.

"I saw the little sketches and some of the ideas she had along the way, but to actually see it on the wall is pretty impressive," her mother, Deb Fett said.

Fond du Lac students agree.

"I hear them walk by and say oh that's really neat, or gosh I wonder how she did that," Chase said.

Fett graduated on Thursday, but isn't quite ready to put a cap on her painting.

"I'm never going to see it as complete, there's always going to be little things that bother me that I want to change, but it's coming to a point where I just have to leave it alone," she said.

The mural still needs a sealant, but should be a fixture for years to come.

"I'm just honored that I got to do it and that it's going to be here for a long time," Fett said.

Fett is planning to study architecture in college. She says her work on the mural will help her visualize projects and work on a larger scale.