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FAIRMONT - Tucked into the basement of Southern Minnesota Educational Campus is a room intended to put students at ease and give them a place to study and prepare for classes.

The student commons is a staple on most college campuses, and it's one Presentation College and Minnesota West Community and Technical College - schools that share classroom space on the Fairmont campus - want to ensure its students enjoy.

So when Presentation College students approached Director Traci Lardy two years ago with a Picture-It-Painted grant opportunity from Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation, they asked Minnesota West Fairmont Center Manager Jennifer Bendix if her students wanted to be involved.

Together, students and administration from both colleges wrote a grant request for paint to spruce up the cream-colored cement block walls.

This year, they came together again, writing a grant for a more ambitious project for the commons, and again they were awarded the paint they needed to complete a mural.

"We wanted to add the mural to enhance the college life feeling here," Lardy said, "and also connect the history of this building to form this community connection. We still have people coming here saying, 'This is where I went to school when I was 10.'"

Lardy, a lifelong Fairmont resident, contacted one of her schoolmates - artist Sherry (Detert) Carlmark - to help the schools achieve their vision.

She, Lardy, and Bendix spent a couple of hours at Martin County Pioneer Museum, looking at photos of the historic building located at the corners of Park and Blue Earth Avenue.

Carlmark was inspired, and what resulted is a mural titled "Education Evolves Through Time," with six circles representing photographs taken at different times during the building's history. Two are images of the building itself - one complete with an old-time car parked in front, the other of the current sign and building. Two circles depict current students, with a student at a computer screen, and the other of two people working at a science lab bench. Two are taken directly from pictures found at the historical society - Dick-and-Jane type photos of a little boy and girl looking at books, the other of a teacher giving a handwriting assignment.

The mural took approximately 44 hours, not including the time to drive to Owatonna to meet with Valspar, a paint manufacturer and partner in the grant with SMIF, and then up to the Twin Cities to pick up the 9 gallons of paint they were awarded.

Carlmark said people who have looked at the mural with her have found different aspects stand out to them - from the intricate brick work on the building to the hardwood floors painted in the bookshelf image.

Lardy stressed that the community is welcome to come to the school to view the mural.

Bendix said the two schools have more plans for the student commons area, including kitchen appliances so students can make themselves meals, and plants and pictures for the walls.