Making Halls of Justice Less Intimidating to Kids

The hallway that leads to the children’s waiting room at the County Courthouse in Vista is getting a new coat of paint. But, unlike the other, more austere halls of justice in this building, this passage will be bathed in soft pastels with primitive depictions of rainbows and balloons and beach scenes.

The hallway design will cover a 230-square-foot wall leading up to the children’s waiting room. The design and the eventual painting of the mural are through the efforts of The Children’s Mural Project, a collaboration of 20 children from the Vista Boys and Girls Club under the guidance of local artists Patsy Babcock and Deborah Hultberg.

The mural is intended to make the entrance to the children’s waiting room at the courthouse a less intimidating place, said Babcock. Depicted in soft pastel colors will be a serene beach/park scene with a setting sun surrounded by a rainbow colored archway. Puffy floating clouds, runaway balloons and a child building a sand castle are also part of the mural.

The mural was an idea born out of a group of courthouse lawyers who thought repainting the stark hallway with a happy scene might lessen the trauma for children who are already under stressful circumstances, Babcock said. The children who use this room are often waiting for the outcome of who gets custody of them, whether because of a divorce custody battle or a child abuse case.

The lawyers’ mural idea was turned over to the Vista Public Arts Advisory Council. The council, in turn, approached artists Babcock and Hultberg for a concrete plan.

“The children’s waiting room has wonderful toys and lots of activities,” Babcock said. “Once they get in the room, it’s a very child-friendly place, but the lobby and the hall leading to the room are intimidating and scary.”

Wanting to get a child’s perspective on what is considered “safe” and “friendly,” Babcock and Hultberg approached the children at the Vista Boys and Girls Club. Then the brainstorming began.

“We sat down with the children and explained where this would be painted and who would be seeing this,” Babcock said. “We talked to them about the feelings these kids would have in this situation. Some of the kids related because they had been there (to the courthouse) themselves.”

Despite the adult artistic guidance, Babcock said the children involved in the project had a keen sense of what colors would have a more calming influence and opted for soft, quiet pastels, rather than bolder shades. The children also wanted a landscape that exuded quiet and calm feelings rather than anxious and afraid feelings, she said.

The Boys and Girls Club children involved in the project attended four, three-hour workshops led by Babcock and Hultberg. The budding young artists ranged in age from 7 to 16.

Each of the 20 children created a prospective mural design and voted on each other’s work. The design ultimately selected was created by 7-year-old Andrea Muiz of Vista.

About $1,700 is still needed to complete the project’s $3,000 price tag. Painting is expected to begin--with the children’s assistance--the first week in June, Babcock said.

Anyone interested in helping defray the costs of the project can send their tax deductible donations to The Children’s Mural Project, P.O. Box 2361 Vista, CA 92085-2361. Checks should be payable to The Children’s Waiting Room Trust Fund.