With the goal of spreading messages of hope and kindness, patriotism and anti-bullying, the art students tackled Keith Harring-style paintings on grocery store bags. The painted bags will be used by Cactus Jack’s BBQ for their customers, meaning that the artwork and messages will be seen all over the community.

    “I read an article this summer about art students painting grocery store bags, so I asked one day in Cactus Jacks if they would be interested in letting us paint some of their bags,” teacher Amanda Harter said. “They thought it was a neat idea, and gave me a stack of sacks to use.”

    Students used acrylic paints to decorate more than 80 brown paper bags.

    “My favorite class project all semester has been the Keith Harring bags we painted in art class,” freshman Victoria Harrison said. “The best part of the whole project was the colors we used.”