If you haven’t been inside the Perry Middle School gym lately, you’re likely going to notice one big difference right away.  There’s a new, large piece of art painted on one of the room’s walls.

Saydel middle school art teacher Mike Dennis and a colleague spent the last few days in Perry airbrushing a giant Bluejay along the north wall of the gym.  Superintendent Lynn Ubben says she had seen Dennis’s work in several places, including her former school district, and contacted him to come up with a design.

“That original artwork will then be ours, because obviously it’s copyrighted by the artist and that will be ours to use as we wish.  We’ve also decided we kind of like that fun mascot that he designed too and that’s original artwork too that we purchased and can be used on t-shirts or the booster club can use, or whoever.  So we do have some kind of fun original designs and I think when people come into the gym and see that, the kids and everyone will be very impressed.

Though it may seem like something trivial, Ubben says sometimes it’s little things like this than can really change the atmosphere in a room and causes excitement, which makes facilities look better and brighter.

Total cost of the mural was around $3,000 which was part of the gym revitalization project.