Ranchvale students paint veterinary hospital

Ranchvale Elementary School students brought a little bit of color to the Clovis Veterinary Hospital.

Twenty-five fourth- through sixth-graders applied their artistic talents to the ceiling at the veterinary hospital.

The Clovis Veterinary Hospital is going through a remodel and Dr. Rebekah Ford asked Ranchvale art teacher Marti Stacy if her students would paint her ceiling tiles.

Ford said she has seen student-painted ceiling tiles before and enjoyed it.

“Me and my husband thought it would be really cool to have them do that,” Ford said.

She said part of the draw is that her ceiling will include unique works of art from the students.

“It’s a way to reach out to the community,” Ford said.

Stacy said she held a contest in her fourth, fifth and sixth grade classrooms. The students drew out what they wanted to paint and 25 were chosen. The only requirement was that the drawing featured animals or the hospital itself.

Sixth grader Aaliyah Lane asked to paint a second tile. Her first featured a kitten in a basket and her second was topped with a banner saying “Planet of Animals” and includes a giraffe, shark, penguin, elephant and a puppy. Lane said she might add a veterinarian also.

“I don’t usually have the opportunity to paint what I want to,” Lane said.

Lane said she usually draws anime but she enjoyed painting the animals.

“This is really cool,” she said. “It’s good publicity for the students.”

Stacy said the project is good exposure for the students.

“There’s art talent in all the schools,” Stacy said. “This is good for them. It gives them a chance to draw and paint what they want and have it seen by people.”

Stacy said students often paint and draw but the pieces of art are shown to the school and then taken home.

“They have done such a great job,” she said.

Stacy said the work on the tiles has been done outside the school day for the most part and parents were happy about the project.

“You can tell the kids are just very proud,” Stacy said. “Their faces just light up.”