Amy Ma, a junior at Lexington High School and co-president of the Mural Crew, recently completed a mural at the Lexington Community Center. Titled “Woven Seasons: A Lexington Tapestry,” the artwork spans the entire length and height of a wall outside the fitness room. It consists of four panels, each one dedicated to one of the seasons, depicting Ma’s first impression of when she moved to Lexington from Canada in her freshman year. Ma began work on the mural in Jan. 2025 and finished it in June.

“In the beginning of painting the mural, I was really intimidated. I was like, ‘Where do I even start?’” Ma said. 

Ma had painted murals before, but noted initial feelings of uncertainty around such a big project.

“I started with pencil. I used a ruler to make the straight lines and then I started to paint the grass for each of the four panels. I started with the background because I was really scared to do the little details on such a big wall,” Ma said. 

Despite Ma’s trepidation, the piece began to come to life, little by little.

“In the beginning, when I was doing the pencil, it looked a little strange because no one could see anything yet. People were questioning me, like ‘Are you supposed to be doing this?’ But as I got to the end, it was pretty nice,” Ma said.

It was in Canada that Ma discovered her passion for art and drawing. 

“During the moving period [from Canada to the United States], for about a year and a half, I did not draw at all because I was a bit stressed and I didn’t know how to get back into the moment or the zone for drawing. I kind of lost all my inspiration … But I got used to living here and making this mural was like a second chance for me to unleash my art skills again,” Ma said.

In the future, Ma hopes to go into a design-focused career where she can use her artistic skills.

“I’m currently leaning towards a major in university like architecture, or doing the engineering aspect of that,” Ma said. “Architecture is something that I would like to move on in the future, with the design process that I learned throughout my classes in Canada and in the U.S.”

For aspiring artists, Ma offers some words of advice and encouragement.

“Don’t stop trying new things … Once I started to try new things, like painting on walls, or doing 3D work, I think that helped me find what I really want to do. So just try everything,” Ma said.