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Olivia Phillips-Waldorf chose to paint a mural on a wall in Scott Park, located in Decatur. Photo provided to Decaturish.

Decatur resident and Decatur High School senior, Olivia Phillips-Waldorf has been a Girl Scout for 12 years now. Starting as a Daisy in Irvine, Ca., she just completed her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award Girl Scouts aim to receive.

For her Gold Award, Phillips-Waldorf chose to paint a mural on a wall in Scott Park, located in Decatur at 231 Sycamore Street.

Before moving forward with her mural, she went through a few people to get “the green light to paint.” After talking to Angie Macon of Decatur Arts Alliance to approve her project and Greg White to approve her mural at Scott Park, she was good to go.

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Why a mural, though? For her, “painting and art have always been a safe space,” and she felt that she could share that through interactive art.

“I wanted to display art that makes other members of our community feel safe and happy,” she said. “I felt that painting a mural in a public area was the best way to spread my message of self love.”

The mural is of a large pair of wings, which she used to display her message of self love.

“The wings have an empty space between them which encourages people to take a picture with my mural and show their wings,” she said.

At 16, almost 17 years old, this is Phillips-Waldorf’s first mural. She’s been painting for four years now, but is more familiar with ink art.

“It’s crazy to think I have a permanent piece of art in Decatur now,” she said. “Painting it was a totally new adventure, and I learned a lot about the process.”

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