Owls help downtown mural take flight with printmaking activity

November 19, 2025

Elliott Elementary School students helped a downtown mural take flight this fall by picking up printmaking skills in their art class.
 
Dozens of Owls created hand-printed bird images for a new mural at the corner of 14th and N streets as part of a “What Moves You?” project. They used artistic tools such as water-based ink, plexiglass, rollers and a portable printing press to make many vibrant paintings. They joined a citywide effort that included artists from Lincoln High, Park Middle School and Everett Elementary School.
 
Fifth graders Jordan and Jonathan said they were happy when they learned people from across Lincoln would view their artworks. Elliott art teacher Jodi Heiser and guest artist Angelica Tapia led their class through a process that ended with students personally hand-turning the printing press to produce their birds. Both Owls beamed as they brought their drawings back to a metal rack to dry.
 
What was it like when they saw their birds coming out of the printing press?
 
“It was really cool,” Jordan said. “It was awesome.”
 
“I was very excited because it was fun to do,” Jonathan said. “I liked it.”

 
Tapia said it was encouraging to watch Elliott students experiment with printmaking during the morning. She grew up in a town near Kearney and first learned about the artistic style in college. She now owns a master’s degree in painting and printmaking and has showcased her skills throughout the state.
 
“It was such a thrill when I discovered printmaking, and that’s the feeling that I want these kids to have,” Tapia said. “I want to give these kids a chance to learn about this while they’re young. If they know about it now, who knows what they’ll be able to do with it in middle school and high school and beyond? They’re getting a real head start on this, which makes me happy.”
 
Local artists Kat Wiese and Lindsey Weber jump-started the project this summer when they began creating a mural at the MusicBox (MBX) rehearsal and recording venue. The Downtown Lincoln Association asked them to design a mural that focused on themes of connection and transformation.
 
Wiese and Weber wanted the artwork’s viewers to reflect on what moves them. Answers could be literal ones, such as travel, music or dance. They could also be metaphorical, like emotions or personal growth. They are currently in the process of collecting hundreds of hand-printed birds that will add another layer of movement to the mural.
 
Tapia began her time at Elliott by explaining how printmaking works to the Owls. She then gave each student bird-shaped cutouts made of delicate newsprint paper. They used watercolor crayons to decorate their birds with lines, pictures and drawings.

 
Students brought their birds to a table that contained plexiglass, rollers and several hues of paint. They told Tapia which colors they wanted to surround their bird, and she helped them roll a custom-made paint mixture on a rectangular pane of plexiglass. They then set the plexiglass in the printing press, placed their bird on top of the paint and laid a press blanket over it to avoid having roll marks appear.
 
Each Owl then moved the plexiglass through the printing press to create a stenciled image of their animal with the paint around it. Jonathan’s brown bird was contained in a sea of blue, green and yellow paint, and Jordan’s red-and-white bird was flying inside red and peach colors.
 
Jordan said he was proud of how his artwork turned out.
 
“I liked how it came out on the glass,” Jordan said. “I really want to keep it.”

 
Tapia said she was pleased with how the Owls followed her instructions.
 
“I think they got the idea of what to do pretty quickly,” Tapia said. “They did a really nice job listening to everything.”
 
Many Owls also used problem-solving skills to leave personal marks on their projects. Tapia told the class that the printmaking process creates a mirror image of an artwork when it travels through the printing press. Several students, like Daniela, wanted to include their name on their bird, and they realized that they needed to write the letters backwards in order for it to come out correctly.
 
“Writing names backwards is a huge challenge, and the fact that they did it was really impressive,” Tapia said. “That was pretty neat to see.”
 
Tapia said she hopes the printmaking activity will allow a love of art to take flight for all Owls who worked on the project.
 
“This was a lot of fun,” Tapia said. “I love working with students because they’re so full of energy and they have a lot of great ideas. Having them be part of this mural is hopefully something that they’ll remember for a long time.”
 
Thousands of Lincoln Public Schools students are flying into successful artistic frontiers in their classrooms every day. Learn more about the LPS art curriculum at home.lps.org/art.
 
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