Location 37, Hubbard Mastery School, in Columbus, Ohio, in the heart of Buckeye Nation

The last time I painted in the United States, the first question someone asked me was, "What kind of insurance do you have for the project?"  Nobody ever asked me that kind of question before.  It wasn't exactly a good omen of things to come.   And, it kind of made me shy away from looking for other murals in the good old U. S. of A.  But, I didn't look for this mural.   It came looking for me.  Actually, my friend Colleen asked me about painting a mural at the Hubbard Mastery School, a school that our church has teamed up with to support young readers. Colleen painted with me at my first mural project in Piedras Negras, Mexico.  She knew all about my murals, spent a lot of time on my mural website (which almost nobody does), and knew this was a good fit for me.
 
Of course, she was right.
 
If you ever visit Hubbard Mastery School, you'll notice right from the start that it is a grand old building with wide hallways and very, very tall ceilings.  It was exciting just to think about painting in such a historic building.   And then, when you get inside, you see all the treasures. It has a diverse student population, excited teachers, lots of volunteers and a very dynamic principal.
 
The principal had all kinds of ideas for the mural.  Since I never want to show up with my own ideas and always want local input for the concept, this was a very good plus on their part. Diversity had to be included.  That was covered by four different skin colors as well as greetings in English, Spanish, and Chinese.  There actually weren't that many native Chinese speakers in the building, but the students studied Chinese, working their way towards a program sponsored by the Ohio State University.  So cool!
 
I wanted to weave in a lot of the activities that happened at the school, so there was a bit of sports, music, art, writing, reading, and I.T. mingled with a healthy dose of my happy kids. However, the central figures had to be "high-fiving".  A lot of that happened at Hubbard Mastery School.  Success and mastery needed to be celebrated.  And, just in case you need mastery in US geography, there is a globe with Columbus, Ohio, located with a bright yellow