Bursting with bright and beautiful energy.

An embodiment of the art and the artist.

A freshly painted mural declaring Kingfisher’s origin and blooming with cheerfulness and positivity is adding a little pep to people’s step in downtown Kingfisher.

The creative design of local artist and Kingfisher High School art teacher Summer Scott began with an idea to create a mural that would be a colorful addition to the downtown landscape.

“I’ve always liked to incorporate nature into my art and I wanted it to be something bright and cheerful that would be a fun backdrop for pictures,” Scott said.

The first step would be to find a location and she thought: Who better than someone in real estate to help her find a place?

One call was all she needed.

She contacted local realtor Morgan Winters and Winters told her, “I have the perfect spot.”

When Winters and her husband, Wager, purchased the downtown building on Main Street for their real estate business, they refurbished everything except the outside south wall.

Positioned next to the municipal building drive-thru, Winters felt it would be a perfect location with lots of exposure where people could enjoy the mural.

Before a drop of paint touched the wall, Scott presented the design to Winters and together they agreed on a bold turquoise background, as well as several possible encouraging quotes. All other aspects were left up to Scott’s creative mind.

“I worked with Morgan, but she basically gave me free creativity for the mural,” Scott said.

Scott is definitely the creative mastermind, Winters commented.

A few of their favorite quotes were posted on Scott’s social media pages and a poll was taken. The majority of votes went to Scott and Winters’ favorite quote and it was decided – “One kind word can change someone’s entire day.”

With plans in place, Scott said, she put out a call to former students on social media to see if they would be interested in helping prime and paint the background.

Several showed up the first day to volunteer their time and were enjoying it, so they kept returning to help until it was finished, she said.

Scott’s former students who worked on the mural were: Hannah Wittrock, Hayden Wittrock, Maricza Lopez, Anna Gallupe, Melody Wilfong and Karissa Stitt.

“We went to prime and paint the first day,” Hannah Wittrock said. “We were having fun, so we kept going back.”

On a bright turquoise background, precise lettering boldly proclaims the encouraging quote and “Downtown Kingfisher established 1889.” Colorful pop art-style flowers complete the work and provide a cheerful backdrop for photo opportunities or just to lift people’s spirits.

They painted a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening for about two weeks, Scott said. Overall the project took about 60 hours for the group.

It would have taken a lot longer without the students who volunteered their time and she was very thankful for their help, Scott said.

Having graduated from Lomega in 2008, Scott pursued and received a bachelor of science in elementary education with a minor in art from SWOSU. She went on to complete certifications to teach art in secondary education.

As the art teacher at KHS for the last seven years, Scott teaches four levels of art classes, with Art IV being the most advanced, which allows students the most independence with their projects.

In her classes, her students have been able to learn about and experiment with pottery, print making, pastels, painting, lettering and various other art forms.

“We did everything from making pottery, mosaics, sketches to props for the drama club,” Hayden Wittrock said.

Pottery was his favorite medium, he said. While his sister, Hannah, said her favorite was the chalk art competitions they went to while taking Scott’s classes.

The Wittrock siblings both agreed Scott is always exploring new things to do and described her as fun, energetic and engaging.

Before the global pandemic occurred, Scott said, her students had been working on props for the drama club’s play, as they have done in previous years.

“It is organized chaos when we are working on the props, because we work with all kinds of media including wood, cardboard, paper mache and tapestry,” Scott commented.

When the schools switched to online learning during the coronavirus pandemic this spring, it was difficult to teach art from a distance, she said.

Many of the students didn’t have access to a lot of media, but she gave them assignments they could do from home with whatever supplies they had, Scott said.

As for her own work as an artist, Scott is talented in many different mediums.

She has worked on canvas paintings, mosaic art, pottery and various other projects, as well as recently painting murals.

Besides the recent downtown mural, she has painted a mural at the Lawton mall, the KHS softball locker room and is currently completing one in the new entryway to the high school.

She enjoys working with lettering and incorporates it into many of her works.

Another venture she is involved in is her business, Signs of Summer. She hosts paint parties for sign making and also sells custom hand-painted and hand-lettered signs.

Previously, Hobby Lobby contracted two of her pieces of hand-lettered art to sell in its stores.

Scott is married to Matt, who is a personal trainer in Kingfisher and they have an 18-month old daughter, Charlie.

Scott and Winters were both pleased with the completed mural.

Scott plans to paint more murals, with dreams of painting something in the arts district of Oklahoma City.

“I love the mural,” Winters said. “It puts a little cheer in my day as I go in and out of the office.

“Summer is really talented and we are lucky to have her as a teacher in the school and in this community.”

See related photos on Page 13.