“Be the ‘I’ in Kind” is a new mural installation at Lincoln Elementary School in Yuba City and a favorite among students. 

YUBA CITY, CA (MPG) - Step onto Lincoln Elementary School’s campus this spring and you’ll find astronauts jamming on guitars, Viking ships sailing into the sunset and a tiny pink video game character tucked among the stars.

It’s all part of a sweeping mural makeover that’s turned one of Yuba City’s oldest schools into a vibrant canvas of creativity, thanks to California’s Prop 28 arts education funding.

“It’s a grant that all schools in California received and it’s for art projects or art on campus and in the schools,” explained principal Brian Brown who has led Lincoln for the past four years. “You get to spend a portion of the money on school facilities and then the rest of the money gets spent on different art projects in classrooms or resource centers.”

 

Leslie Greenetz and Johnny Daugherty, left, work on a space-and-music-themed mural at Lincoln Elementary School in Yuba City on April 2. The two artists were commissioned to eight murals at this 162-year-old campus via Prop 28 grant funding. 

Proposition 28, passed by voters in 2022, aims to provide ongoing funding to expand arts and music programs in public schools. While most of that money must go toward hiring arts teachers, up to 20% can be used for supplies, training and partnerships with working artists. That means schools such as Lincoln Elementary School can bring in professionals such as Leslie Greenetz and Johnny Daugherty to collaborate on projects including murals, an opportunity that staff and students have wholeheartedly embraced.

“They’re doing a lot of great work,” said Brown. “They actually did some projects at other schools in the district and I got their name through those schools.”

Greenetz, a local muralist with an impressive list of community projects, teamed up with longtime collaborator Daugherty to bring Lincoln Elementary School’s walls to life. Together, they’ve created a series of eight bold, imaginative scenes that are as educational as they are eye-catching.

 

Here is a portion of “Kelso’s Choices,” a new mural located on the outside of the cafeteria at Lincoln Elementary School in Yuba City. This is one of eight commissioned pieces done by Leslie Greenetz and Johnny Daugherty, funded by Prop 28. 

“When we came to tour the campus, it was all tan and so I knew we needed to bring some color to it,” said Greenetz. 

The murals began going up in late February and are expected to be finished by mid-April. For students, watching the process has been just as exciting as seeing the final pieces.

“We really like watching them paint,” said EverLynn Sutton, a Lincoln Elementary School fifth-grader. “It’s like they’re making everything better here. Now, I’m going to be sad to leave.”

One of the more popular pieces on campus is “Be the ‘I’ in Kind” on Second-Grade Pass, a place where students can pose with perfectly aligned butterfly wings.

But the fan-favorite among both students and staff is a frog themed mural centered around Kelso’s Choices, the school’s social-emotional learning program.

“Everyone they do, I say, ‘I think is my favorite,’ but then they do another one and I'm like ‘Geez, I think that’s my favorite,’” laughed Brown.

A new mural visible from S. Walton Avenue in Yuba City pays tribute to Lincoln Elementary School’s Vikings mascot. This installation is one of eight new pieces adorning the campus, made possible by grant funding from Prop 28. 

According to the California Department of Education, Lincoln Elementary School opened its doors on July 1, 1863. In its 162-year history, it had only one previous mural, painted decades ago on Room 7. But that artwork was eventually hidden when a portable library was installed in front of it.

“These (murals) are the first ones that have been here that I know of,” said Brown. “The response from the kids and staff has been great. They really seem to like them.”

Both Daugherty and Greenetz plan to continue their mural work at campuses across Yuba and Sutter counties. So far, they’ve graced Butte Vista Elementary and Gray Avenue Middle School and their next stop is Hallwood. Meanwhile, Lincoln Elementary plans to bring more direct art instruction to students next year using Prop 28 funding.

“The hard part is you have to find somebody that has an art teaching credential to do the work with the students,” said Brown. “We’re in the process of working on that and the plan is to have some type of art activities for our students next year.”