As a parting gift from the last graduating class at Legacy Academy, students and teachers were surprised with a mural painted by a local artist this fall. Last spring, the school decided to remove their high school program due to financial reasons. But the 2009 graduating class found a way to leave a mark on the school.

Anyone who walks in the Legacy gymnasium cannot miss the mural of a wildcat, the school’s mascot, scratching its way through the wall. The intimidating and detailed mural painted by Elbert County artist Richard Marks, jumps out of the wall and demands attention.

“I wanted it to be intimidating to other schools because that is their mascot, but I didn’t want it to be too intimidating,” Marks said.

The mural project started during the summer and took 40 hours total for Marks to complete. Marks, who has been an artist for as long as he can remember, currently focuses his artistic abilities on murals, portraits and graphic design through his business Richard L. Marks Studios Inc. He also has painted murals for Elizabeth High School’s gymnasium and a school in Limon.

Before starting the wildcat mural, Marks researched wildcats on the Internet. He completed his sketch and projected the image on the wall. He said an important thing to remember while creating murals is good preparation of the sketch.

“You will save a lot of time while you are actually painting the mural, if you take the necessary time in developing the initial sketch,” he said. “That way you don’t have to waste too much time fixing things while painting the actual mural.”

After the wildcat mural was complete and receiving compliments, Marks was asked by kindergarten teacher Cynthe McFarland to paint a mural outside her classroom. She asked for a map of the world to “provide teachable moments when the children are waiting in line to go to recess or other breaks.”

Marks said it was a pleasure to provide murals for the school and is willing to continue his works of art free of charge on other walls throughout the school.

“So far what I have heard, everybody has loved the murals and were blown away by both of them,” he said. “It feels nice when people appreciate your work.”