A brush with fame

NEWPORT BEACH — If Newport Heights Elementary School ever hosts a reunion of all the people represented in its new mural, they may not be recognizable from the painting. That’s because all of them are hidden.

First, there’s the boat called the Queen Bee — a sly reference to teacher Niccole Bisceglia, whose students have bestowed that nickname upon her.

There’s another boat called the Missing Lenk, named after the artist’s friend, Dale Lenk, a parent at the school.

And, of course, there are the words “Captain Suhr” written on the Balboa Island Ferry captain’s booth in tribute to Newport Heights Principal Kurt Suhr.

Until August, the wall students pass on their way into the campus had been mostly white, except for a nondescript sign reading, “Welcome to Newport Heights.”

When school resumed after Labor Day, though, Newport Heights had a colorful new entrance — and one that may grow more colorful in the months ahead, according to artist and former Newport Heights parent Gary Miltimore.

“It’s good for morale, right?” asked Miltimore, whose wife, Diana Jennings, is a teacher’s aide at the school. “They all like the airplane. They think that’s great. We might sneak in a few more things, too. I’d still like to put a seal in there. Every now and then, there can be a new surprise on the wall.”

The mural depicts a waterside scene of the Balboa Peninsula with the Balboa Fun Zone, the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum and other easily recognizable attractions.

An old-fashioned plane flies across the top of the picture, trailing a “Welcome to Newport Heights” banner, while a group of pelicans occupy a canoe in the lower right.

Miltimore, who has painted racing boats and dedicated most of his life to maritime-themed art, started work on the mural after Kathy Shaw, the head of the school PTA’s beautification committee, invited him to touch up the drab area outside the administration office.

She showed him a picture of the Peninsula from a book on Newport Beach history, but Miltimore quickly put his own spin on it, even working his own sailboat into the panorama.

“I thought it was just such a nice thing to do for a school,” said Shaw, whose group has also provided Newport Heights with new benches, plants and flowers in recent years.

The artist also got a thumbs-up from one of his subjects — who recently became a doctor, and now got to add captain to his list of titles.

“It’s something that really captures your eye when you come on the campus,” Suhr said. “It’s really cool to see little kindergartners or first-graders gathered around, pointing fingers and appreciating the artwork.”

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at [email protected].