Fairhope West Elementary students have something to look forward to as they go back to school this year.

After about three weeks of designing, sketching and painting, local artist Hannah Legg finished her mural, which spans the four walls of a small room between the elementary school hall and cafeteria.

Legg captured the essence of the city's natural state and ensured the mural was accurate to a typical Fairhope scene by including local trees like live oaks and cypress and a variety of fauna such as a baby gator alongside several different fish, jellyfish and birds.

"We lucked out on the wildlife around here," she said. "… I think there's just that level of, like, it's hard not to be inspired by the nature here. It's so colorful; it's vibrant."

Most of Legg's artwork focuses on "natural or outdoorsy" themes as there are "a lot of things to choose from" when looking at the ecosystem throughout Fairhope.

She said she enjoys painting animals and natural things, especially since she somewhat considered being a marine biologist before learning "how much math was involved."

With her passion for art, though, she can learn more about subjects just as she worked with Kacie Hardman, Elementary Science Lab Director for the Pelican's Nest Science Lab through the Fairhope Educational Enrichment Foundation, to ensure the animals she chose were common for the area.

Fairhope West Elementary principal Jenny Davis said she felt the diversity of the area's ecosystem was captured in the mural and she is looking forward to seeing the mural every day.

"I wanted to bring Fairhope into this building because we live in such a cool place," she said. "We want our kids to be proud of where we live."

Legg said her biggest takeaway from working on this project was how it inspires her to pursue projects that are visually interesting. She also said the project emphasized how we as humans fit into the natural world around us and "how well it all works together."

"I think just reinforcing that any time you can highlight our environment," Legg said, "especially with kids because, you know, that's when you fall in love with it, right? When you're running around down by the bay and find your first ever seashell and you're like 'this is the coolest thing in the world.' I think if you can fall in love with it at an early age, at an elementary school age, it sticks with you."

Davis said her biggest takeaway was how art can be brought inside a building to inspire someone and make one feel like "I'm a part of this."

"Our kids live in this," she said as she gestured to the four painted walls, "yet we just brought this inside our school. That is so super cool. ... I think it's going to be inspiring to our kids."

Legg said she has been working on large-scale paintings on and off for about five or six years with some of her first works being in local spots such as her first piece being the mermaid in Panini Pete's, a mural project at Fairhope's Kind Café and another at Squid Ink in Mobile. Last year she started freelancing in her art career.

Legg said she regularly encourages people to create art, even if they think they can't.

"Honestly, that's just taking the chance though because you never know what you're going to be good at," she said. "Like, if Pete [with Panini Pete's] had never been like, 'hey, hop up on this ladder and paint this chalkboard' I never would've thought to do this."

Legg said she regularly teaches watercolor classes at the Eastern Shore Art Center on Wednesdays for those looking for a beginner course.

On the mural, both Legg and Davis agreed the mural represents "something to be proud of" for the Fairhope West Elementary students. While this room is going to be one of the bigger projects, Davis said, Legg will also be working on other projects throughout the school for students to keep an eye out for.