Humphreys High School junior April Conner adds finishing touches to a mural at Jacob's House, an orphanage near Camp Humphreys, South Korea, June 13, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
SEOUL, South Korea — Metal fencing atop high concrete walls surround an orphanage in Pyeongtaek city, where around 30 children as young as 3 years old live under the care of their teachers.
The drab structure, reminiscent of a prison, is interrupted by a 5.5 yard-wide section splashed with bright images depicting the sea and aquatic life.
The mural’s creator, Humphreys High School junior April Conner, 16, volunteered in April to paint the walls in response to the orphanage’s search for artists to bring new life to their surroundings.
“I thought this was a great opportunity, so I took it and ran with it,” Conner told Stars and Stripes in Seoul on Thursday.
The orphanage, Jacob’s Home, receives donations and holiday gifts from Americans who live and work less than 10 miles away at Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas.
Military personnel stationed in South Korea visit orphanages and donate toys for kids throughout the year as one of the ways to build ties to the local community.
Conner, an aspiring artist interested in illustration and surrealism, is one of those volunteers.
Humphreys High School junior April Conner poses in front of a mural she painted at Jacob's House, an orphanage near Camp Humphreys, South Korea, June 13, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
The monthlong planning process to paint the wall was overly complicated and Conner said she felt some of her ideas in her sketchbook “weren’t good enough.” In the end, she decided the painting “is supposed to be simple and fun” for the kids.
“When you look at [the mural], it’s there, right in your face,” she said. “So, I had to go back and make this really simple, but I also wanted to make it detailed.”
Military spouses at Humphreys paid for the materials, including the special, weatherproof paint that cost around $500, Conner said.
For roughly one to two hours each day for a month, Conner visited the orphanage after class. Painting the mural took another month and was completed in mid-June.
“Usually, when I finish something, I never feel like I’m finished,” she said. “But if I had actually gone back to the painting to fix those things, I don’t think it would have had the same effect as it does right now.”
Conner said the fish she painted in the mural remind her of the orphans.
“Every child has a different personality, and they want to do different things in life,” she said. “There are a lot of opportunities for these kids and the ocean is big.”
Conner’s summer schedule reflects her artistic ambitions. She attends an art school in Seoul from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. and hopes to attend an art college in the United States.
Humphreys High School junior April Conner adds finishing touches to a mural at Jacob's House, an orphanage near Camp Humphreys, South Korea, June 13, 2023. (Christopher Green/Stars and Stripes)
Her father, James Conner, a civilian working for U.S. Forces Korea headquarters at Humphreys, described her as being “really dedicated” to her craft.
“When she starts something, she finishes it,” he said. “She had a purpose for this one: She felt like she wanted to do something for the orphanage.”
Kim A Ra, lead organizer for the Eastern Social Welfare Society in Pyeongtaek, said the orphanage was grateful for April Conner’s mural.
“Many people usually pass this road where the wall is,” Kim told Stars and Stripes by phone Friday. “It was just an old, gray-colored wall before being newly painted.”
Conner said she hopes to paint the adjacent walls in the future.
“It didn’t feel like it was charity work,” she said. “It just felt like this seemed like a really important job to do. In the back of my mind, I felt I had to do this.”
