In Focus: Park Rapids Student Creates Magical Harry Potter Mural For School

A student from Park Rapids Area High School is getting some praise for her massive Harry Potter mural. It took countless hours and tons of paint, but Victoria Campbell, also known as Tori, has completed a spelling binding new art piece for her school.

“It’s taken me all of last trimester from last year and the first trimester of this year,” says Campbell.

The mural is 10 feet tall and 22 feet long. Her inspiration came from her love of the books.

“I enjoy painting and I like reading and Harry Potter just kind of stood out to me, and I wanted it to be something that has to do with literature because this is the English hallway,” says Campbell.

Park Rapids High School has 11 different art classes, and Campbell is a part of the advanced studies class. Art teacher Michael Hartung sits down with each advanced studies student to discuss what type of projects they want to work on.

“I’ll always encourage them to say, ‘we’re going to be working on this. We’re going to be looking at this. You’re going to be working on this for 3 months. Let’s carefully plan this.’ There’s a series of days and weeks of planning,” says Hartung.

Dozens of murals line the walls of Park Rapids High School, just like Campbell’s. They remind kids to dream big and imagine the possibilities.

Hartung says about Campbell’s work: “It’s interesting to see how it’s a story. She’s telling a story and there’s multiple things here. You have to step back and take a look at it. You’ll have to know a little bit about Harry Potter, but part of it is that it’s massive and it’s really intricate and it has a lot of meaning behind it.”

Campbell says her favorite part about the mural is the moon. Looking back, she’s proud of her work and has this advice for other students: “Even though I didn’t have much time or the space to do so I still made a very big mural, and, I don’t know, if people don’t think that they can do something if you put your mind to it, you can do it.”

Campbell and other Park Rapids art students will next be participating in a visual art show that’s happening in Fosston next in March. Campbell says she’s working on a pen art piece.