Wilsonville’s Students Deliver Dazzling Bus Design

A mid-December City Council work session offered a rare departure from the usual staff reports, questions and Council deliberations. 

Youthful energy was on display, and a few nerves evident, as six high school art students presented the results of a year-long collaboration with SMART.

Commissioned by the transit agency to design artistic wraps to dress two new electric buses, the students walked through their artistic process during a 10-minute presentation and revealed the stunning result of their efforts.

• Watch the presentation on YouTube

“They just knocked it out of the park,” said Elli Work, Grants and Programs Manager for SMART. “I keep hearing how astounding the presentation was. One colleague told me she was fighting back tears.” 

The presentation elicited a “Wow!” from Mayor Tim Knapp, and more kudos from each of the councilors present. 

“I’m really happy (that SMART commissioned you to do this) instead of paying a consultant or artist from outside the city,” said Councilor Scott Starr. “I don’t know that we would have gotten much better artwork if we had.”

Wilsonville High School art teacher Christopher Shotola-Hardt and Arts & Technology High School art teacher Philip Glass mentored the students who participated in the project, a collaboration among the two schools and SMART. Working with the City provided a great opportunity for students to get a unique glimpse into real-world problem solving. 

“It was an eye-opener for them,” said Shotola-Hardt. “With a fine art project, they are in control of their own work. There comes a point where they can say ‘I’m finished.’ When we’re working with a client, it goes through reviews and revisions. There’s a grind to it.”

The students met weekly. Over course of the project, that grind whittled the original project team down to just eight who saw the project to its finish and whose names will appear on the bus. They are Leilani Bautista, Vianey Bautista, Jasleen Kaur Bhullar, Elaysia Gates, Eleanor Karrick, Angelica Maldonado, Maximillian McGuire and Mason Wright. 

“There were heated discussions about what it could be or should be. The group worked on countless drawings, concept drawings, critiques,” said Shotola-Hardt. “SMART was really drawn to four ideas they’d like to see slammed together. I told them this was typical for a graphic designer, to present several directions and have the client choose.”

The final design incorporated iconic Wilsonville locations — including the Graham Oaks tree, McMenamins Old Church, the Clock Tower at SMART Central — painted in water color by Bhullar, using gradients of SMART green. 

Having the fortitude to finish the project, the courage to present it to City leadership, and the talent to have their design supported unanimously by Council inspires confidence that can inspire students long after the school-year ends.

“It’s palpable,” Shotola-Hardt said. “The kids were just beaming, floating on air, after the presentation. When they came back to school the next day, several said they watched the presentation twice before they went to bed. They’re proud.”

With their work finished, the group must wait patiently for the buses to arrive, at which time they’ll tour Gillespie Graphics to see the vinyl graphics affixed to the buses. The buses are scheduled to be unveiled this summer.

“When people see the buses driving around, it says a lot about what we value in Wilsonville,” Shotola-Hardt said. “We value families, education, our young people and their voices.”

Previously, the City commissioned student artists to develop painted tiles for “Beauty and the Bridge.” Shotola-Hardt said that, years later, students recognize the benefits that a collaboration of this nature provides. 

“To have them come back, after graduating from college, and remind me ‘Hey, remember when you pushed me to finish that? I’m so glad you did. Every time I go by, I look at that and I’m really proud that I was a part of that’,” Shotola-Hardt said. 

He believes these projects serve as an important reminder of the value of art education. 

“Art education is vital, and when it’s out in the public eye people can see the depth of the work and now important it is,” he said. “This is a huge piece of advocacy that will be driving on our roads. People will know it was done by students in our community. Those kids are our future, and look at the quality of the work they can do.”