A blank wall at the Sedona Public Library was too much to resist for a group of Sedona Red Rock High School art students.

Stacy Hernandez, Kelsey Smith, Luz Wallace and Ismea Westerveld turned the 30-foot wall in the library’s outside courtyard into a colorful mural, depicting characters from books and people reading books. The mural will be officially unveiled during the library’s 18th birthday celebration Wednesday, June 6, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at 3250 White Bear Road in West Sedona. Refreshments will be served.

“We had this wall with tiles mounted on it, and it was showing wear from being in the sun and [tiles were] falling off. So, we took them all off. The idea was to bring someone in to decorate it. Then Gary Rubin and the students offered to paint a mural there,” Sedona Public Library Director Virginia Volkman said. Rubin is a local muralist and a library trustee. “He was doing a guest artist program at the high school.”

The tiles were donations but the sun faded them, and they could not be restored. A plaque will be created with the names that were on the tiles, Volkman said.

For the full story, see the Friday, June 1, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.