Grand View Graphic Design Students Bring Community Project to Life Through Clinic Mural

October 21, 2026

Grand View University graphic design students are seeing their classroom ideas make a lasting impact in the Des Moines community through a mural designed to make a local health clinic more welcoming for children and families.

This spring, students in Grand View’s Graphic Design II course partnered with MercyONE Primary Health Care and Reach Out & Read Midwest to reimagine the environment at MercyONE’s Laurel Street clinic. The project challenged students to consider how thoughtful design can create a welcoming space for patients while reflecting the diverse community the clinic serves.

Led by Claire Sedovic, Professor of Practice in the Art & Design Department, students visited the clinic to learn more about its patients and the role it plays in the community. More than half of the clinic’s patients are babies and children, and the families it serves speak 18 different languages.

Reach Out & Read Midwest, which sponsored the mural, promotes early literacy by providing books to children and families during pediatric health care visits.

Working collaboratively, the students developed an original concept for a large-scale mural inspired by the clinic, its patients and the Des Moines community. The design features Iowa-native animals, imagery related to books and literacy, and the word “welcome” represented in the languages spoken by families visiting the clinic.

The students’ original design served as the foundation for a 20-by-7-foot mural Sedovic completed at the clinic in August. She adapted the composition to fit the space and the practical requirements of painting directly on the wall while preserving the students’ original ideas.

The finished mural offers a colorful, welcoming addition to the clinic and demonstrates how design can help create a more inviting experience for children and families.

The project also gave students the opportunity to work with community partners, learn about the needs of a real audience and see their classroom work translated into permanent public artwork.

Through experiences like this, Grand View students apply their creativity and skills beyond the classroom while contributing to the communities they serve.