You’ve found this page because you’ve visited the Theatre Huntsville office and/or the Studio Theatre at Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment and have noticed our ‘Muses of the Mill’ mural by Kaia Johnson.

Kaia Johnson completed this mural her senior year as a visual arts specialty student at the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) in Birmingham, as her Girl Scout Gold Award project as an Ambassador member of Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama, Troop #10455.

ASFA is a public, statewide magnet school with an extended school day offering specialty courses in five arts areas: music, visual arts, theatre arts, creative writing, and dance, as well as math & science.

Kaia chose to enhance the public space of Lowe Mill by celebrating all of the arts areas represented in her school, as well as here at Lowe Mill in here in Huntsville. Kaia grew up in Huntsville, and now resides in Madison with her family when not at school.

Theatre Huntsville is proud to be a member of a thriving arts community and are thrilled to have this mural beautify the space outside the Studio Theatre.

Kaia plans to study film and animation at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts starting fall of 2021.

From GSUSA: Gold Award Girl Scouts are the dreamers and the doers who take “make the world a better place” to the next level. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable—proof that not only can she make a difference, but that she already has.

Seniors and Ambassadors who earn the Gold Award tackle issues that are dear to them and drive lasting change in their communities and beyond.

Interview with the Artist:

What was your inspiration for the mural?
I was inspired by the artistic community that Lowe Mill has created. I tried to include elements of different types of art such as theatre, writing, dance, music, and visual arts.

Describe your artistic process from concept to completion.
I started by digital creating a sketch for my concept and then showed it to Theatre Huntsville and the Gold Award Committee. After the sketch had been approved I projected the sketch onto the wall traced over it so I could have some guidelines to work with. Once I had done that I just worked on painting what I had planed in the sketch onto the wall by coming in a few times a week to work on it until it was completed.

What is your favorite thing about Girl Scouts?
I love all the skills and opportunities that Girls Scouts has given me. I’ve definitely learned a lot of valuable lessons during my time in Girl Scouts.

What is your favorite Girl Scout memory?
My favorite Girl Scout memory would definitely be doing selling cookies. It was always so much fun to run the booths every year and save up for a fun outing and of course, the cookies themselves were always delicious.

What made you decide to pursue earning your Gold Award?
I really wanted to do something to give back to my community before graduating high school and the Gold Award offered a great opportunity to do just that.

What made you choose this particular project?
I really care about the arts as I go to an art high school and plan on pursuing art in college so I wanted to do a project relating to that passion of mine. I thought doing a project for the arts community I grew up around would be a great way of expressing that passion.

What advice to you have for younger scouts considering going for the Gold Award?
Don’t be afraid to start early and try to pick a project that’s related to something you’re really passionate about!