Mineola High School art teacher Gina Mehling said she received the opportunity to design new Village of Mineola banners through an old classmate at Mineola High School — Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira.
The former student then turned to her students for help.
The results of that help is now visible on the 22 banners recently put up on six public buildings in the village.
“I presented the students with four or five photographs that were possibilities,” Mehling said. “We discussed the visual impact, seeing the images from a distance and still showing necessary details.”
The banners depict six different buildings offering a variety of perspectives.
Banners flying at the Post Office and Village Hall each feature the front of the building as its focal point.
Others, like the old Mineola theater and the Mineola Public Library banner, also incorporate the building’s surroundings.
Mehling, a children’s book illustrator who grew up in Williston Park and graduated from Mineola High School, said Pereira reached out to her about the project during the spring of 2014.
She said Pereira asked her to come up with design ideas for new banners that would replace banners that were installed in 2006
As Mehling began the process, she said, she reached out to her students in the school’s National Art Honor Society chapter for some guidance.
“I felt like the process could teach my students how to brainstorm projects before they went off to college,” Mehling said.
In addition to developing her students’ collaborative skills, Mehling said, the project supplemented what she taught since students had to consider the proposed designs’ practicality and aesthetic appeal.
Mehling said her students were also able to apply their critiquing skills from class to the design process.
One of Mehling’s original designs had to be scrapped because it could not be successfully duplicated by printing machines.
Mehling said she and Lisa Dalfonso of the Village’s Beautification Committee eventually came to the current design idea of vintage-style sketches of old buildings in Mineola.
She said she received photos from the Mineola Historical Society and asked students which photos would work best for her to sketch.
After more than a year of continued consultation with her students, Mehling said, she held one of the new village banners with Pereira.
But, she said, she was not alone in the pride she felt for the final product.
“The students felt that they were there to see it be made,” Mehling said. “They can look up at the banners and say I remember critiquing that.”
The new banners were installed in June and July, replacing a series of blue and orange banners installed in 2006 to commemorate the village’s centennial.
Village Mayor Scott Strauss said the old banners had become an eyesore, showing noticeable signs of wear.
Strauss thanked Mehling and Lisa Dalfonso of the Village’s Beautification Committee for investing their time in the project.
“I’m proud that volunteers from within our community took the lead in designing these banners,” Strauss said. “I am particularly grateful to Lisa and Gina for their invaluable assistance and to Deputy Mayor Paul Pereira in coordinating this entire effort. This was a great team effort by all.”
