Holly Grove Elementary School inspires students with bathroom paintings

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. (WTVD) -- It's not exactly the place you'd expect to see art, but a project in the bathrooms at Holly Grove Elementary School has become a source of inspiration for students.

Harper Mayabb is a first grader at Holly Grove and now a self-proclaimed artist.

"I painted the volcano," she said.

Harper and her brother Jack were just two of the many students, parents, and volunteers who created masterpieces in the bathrooms at Holly Grove.

Kindergaten teacher Amy Jo Barnes said, "After we got it done and we walked through at the end of the day on Saturday, we were just amazed at how it turned out because it was a lot better than we ever thought it would be."

Barnes came up with the whole idea to paint words of encouragement on the walls of the bathrooms.

"A lot of the time kids will escape to the bathrooms to take a break or give themselves a minute after everything they're going through in the classroom," Barnes said.

And $80 worth of supplies went a long way, surprising students on Monday morning.

"There were people crowded all around and I was really excited to see everyone there and I went in and I read a lot of them before I went to class," said Merideth Patterson, the fourth grader.

"It looked like nothing was painted before and now it looks like everything is so colorful and painted now," Harper said.

The students at Holly Grove aren't finished yet. They plan to paint a mural in the stairwells next.