AB
Ashley Bancroft
  • interior design
  • Class of 2013
  • Fort Ann, NY

Ashley Bancroft Assists with Mural Painting for Casey's Place in Syracuse

2012 Dec 12

Thanks in part to Ashley Bancroft, of Fort Ann, N.Y., a member of Cazenovia College's Interior Design Club, children with developmental disabilities and severe medical issues who visit Casey's Place, in Syracuse, N.Y., for overnight, weekend or after school care can imagine themselves all grown up with a career, Recently, Bancroft, a senior working toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in interior design at Cazenovia, spent her spare time working on a mural that helps children imagine the future.

Rebecca Williams had the inspiration for the mural, titled "What will I be." She designed it so children could place photos of their faces on characters in the mural. Erica Group and Megan Sitarek did the base drawing and oversaw the painting, assisted by other club members.

Maggie Judge, visiting instructor of interior design, says, "Casey's Place was started by my friends and neighbors, Bob and Sue Crichton, whose daughter, Casey, was born with brain damage and died years later. Sue has been a guest speaker in our Universal Design class for the past several years, sharing her personal experience of retrofitting their home for a child with special needs, and subsequently, the space planning needs and building of Casey's Place."

Judge says the mural project grew out of the club's desire to do some kind of community service project using their talents. "When we talked with Diane Nappa, director of Casey's Place, to find out how we might fill a need for them using the talents of our interior design students, she asked if we could fill up some empty wall space. The idea of an interactive mural was ideal for them."

Casey's Place provides short-term, out of home respite services for children with developmental disabilities and children with severe medical issues who qualify for services through the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. In addition to the overnight respite services, Casey's Place provides afterschool care and school vacation programming.

Photos by Maggie Judge: Students at work as the mural progresses from a plan to the finished work. Photo 1: Erica Group and Megan Sitarek; Photo 2: Left to Right: Ashley Dyer, Ashley Bancroft, Katie Hughes, Morgan Vineall and Courtney Thomas; Photo 3: Megan Sitarek; Photo 4: Left to Right: Katie Hughes, Ashley Dyer and Megan Sitarek

Cazenovia College, founded in 1824, is an independent, co-educational, baccalaureate college near Syracuse, N.Y., offering a comprehensive liberal arts education in an exceptional community environment, with academic and co-curricular programs devoted to developing leaders in their professional fields. Cazenovia, named one of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report, is also a national College of Distinction. For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu.