South Lake Tahoe Girl Scouts complete“Tahoe Stays Wild” mural for Bronze Award

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There is a new mural in South Lake Tahoe! “Tahoe Stays Wild” was recently completed by the Girls Scouts of the Sierra Nevada’s Troop 722 utilizing the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Arts, Culture, and Tourism Commission’s microgrant funding. They were joined by professional artist Matt Kauffmann. The mural features various animals native to Lake Tahoe in the foreground of a bright and vibrant mountain sunset.

With its highly visible location at Lake Tahoe Glass, 2621 Lake Tahoe Blvd., Girl Scouts from Troop 722 are hoping to encourage and educate the public about keeping Tahoe’s wildlife wild and not feeding the wildlife. The mural was completed for the Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest award Junior Girl Scouts (grades 4-5) can earn. Each of the eleven Girl Scouts completing the Bronze Award logged at least 20 hours choosing the project, planning it, putting the plan in motion, and spreading the word about their project, under the guidance of their leaders Kelly Lancellotti, Rachel Paul, and Lisa Collins.

The Girl Scouts started working on the Bronze Award in September 2022 by identifying a problem in their community and brainstorming as a group on ideas to help solve the problem. On a service trip to Yosemite National Park, the scouts were upset when they witnessed a woman sharing her lunch with a chipmunk at the top of Vernal Falls. They realized they had also witnessed people feeding geese at Lake Tahoe’s beaches, and squirrels and chipmunks on area hiking trails and campgrounds, and they wanted to spread the message “Tahoe Stays Wild.”

For their project they asked a local professional artist and South Tahoe High School art teacher, Matt Kauffmann, to work with them to design and paint a mural. Matt Kauffmann has been creating purpose-driven art and murals in both the public and private sphere for over two decades. His passion for using art as a means of building community and connecting people is evident throughout much of South Lake Tahoe and the Northern California area. Examples of his work can be seen at TreefortDesign.com. Kauffmann was eager to work with the scouts and attended the troop’s meeting with his sketchbook and took notes about the ideas the girls had for their mural, and the animals they wished to be included, and brought back several designs from which the troop could choose and vote.

The Girl Scouts applied for and received $5,000 from the City of South Lake Tahoe’s Arts, Culture, and Tourism Commission’s Microgrant to fund the mural. They attended several commission meetings and learned about their local government in the process.

During the last week of school in June, Mr. Kauffmann and Girl Scout Troop 722 stood in front of the large wall at Lake Tahoe Glass sipping 7-11 Slurpees, and took a “before” picture. The girls painted the background colors vibrant blues, yellow and pink. Mr. Kauffmann painted the mountains, trees, and sky, and the girls returned to paint the plants, and animals using templates. The final result is an example of collaboration between many people in the community.

Troop 722 would like to thank Mr. Kauffmann for listening to their vision, creating several designs along the way and an amazing final design, teaching them to paint, and working with them on this project. The project couldn’t have happened without Garett Chambers trusting 5th graders and their future high school art teacher to paint an entire wall at his business, Lake Tahoe Glass, while he was out of town. We are forever grateful. Appreciation also goes to the Arts, Culture, and Tourism Commission for selecting their grant to have the funding to complete the mural, and the many people at the City of South Lake Tahoe helping them with the process, including Sheree Juarez, Communications Specialist, and Madison Dedirick and John Hitchcock from the Planning Department. Many thanks also go to Rebecca Bryson, President of Tahoe Art League, who helped form our project and assisted with the many steps to completion.

To learn more about the animals featured in the Girl Scouts “Tahoe Stays Wild” Mural, please visit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qPQo4JqPd3El5OI8KvcBnlD_LdQc5RhA_1_vs4EV1_A/edit?usp=sharing

To learn more about Girl Scouts, please visit https://www.gssn.org/.

To learn more about Matt Kauffmann's mural business, visit www.TreefortDesign.com.

- Girl Scout Troop 792