Eighth-graders from Bath Middle

School have been painting 12 banners this week in collaboration with Main Street Bath’s “Banners Over Bath” program. Main Street Bath will hang the banners above Front Street in Bath next week in what Executive Director Jake Korb calls a “transition time to summer.”

“We wanted to brighten up those few months before we hang up flowers and the tourists come in,” said Korb. “We started this program a few years ago with professional artists, but last year we decided to have the community put up some of their art. We have a nice showing from the local students this year.”

Korb said that students from Georgetown Middle School and West Bath School also contributed banners.

BMS art teacher Jacqueline Johnson’s eighth grade class were working on finishing their banners Thursday for a Friday submission to Main Street Bath. Twenty-one students worked on designing and painting the 12 banners, many working in pairs to come up with their own ideas of what spring means to them.

“There’s a lot of critical thinking involved in these paintings, a lot of problem-solving,” said Johnson. “Plus they are being social, learning how to cope with and navigate that social world while painting.”

Eighth-grader Ty Knowlton, who said one of his chief interests is drawing geometric shapes, created a parabola that many of the other students used as a template for flowers in their painting.

“I just made that parabola when I was free drawing,” said Knowlton. “Then the other students started telling me I should use it for the banners. I didn’t know if I should or not, but it worked out.”

Mersa Williams said the inspiration for her banner — which depicts a flower blooming under the sun — “came from Ty’s parabola.”

“This spring type of painting just came out,” said Williams.

Carmen Jiminez said her rendition of a budding tree next to a pond with the large lettered on the top proclaiming “spring has sprung” came from a case of “summer fever.”

“Spring is finally here after all this waiting,” said Jiminez. “I have some serious summer fever going and I get to let it all out into this painting.”

Johnson said that BMS takes great pride in their community service, and that contributing art is no different.

“We’re so community minded here, we’re just trying to give back,” said Johnson. “We’re trying to instill in the public that that’s what we do here.”

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