The waiting room walls at the Social Welfare Board in St. Joseph are no longer waiting for color.

Not in one corner, anyway, where the once-drab white has given way to a field and a river and a sunset – all the handi­work of Alex and Ari Domingo, who dedicated several long days to the mural earlier this month.

“We needed something to kind of brighten the place, to make it more warm and friendly,” says Diana Slaw­son, the Social Welfare Board’s office manager, who knew of Alex’s and Ari’s artistic skill from substitute teaching at Central High School in St. Joseph. She asked them to put this skill to work in the clinic, and the end result didn’t dis­appoint.

Alex and Ari, who now are a junior at the University of Texas and a freshman at Missouri State University, respec­tively, used saffron and green, blue and pink and purple to create a landscape bright enough to capture interest but also soothing – something that looks a lot like the Flint Hills in Kansas, Alex says, but without the cows.

This was a much-needed addition to the health clinic, which serves more than 100 low-income individuals each day and previously offered them a col­orless waiting room with nothing but rows of chairs and no entertainment for children, Ms. Slawson says. But now, in addition to the mural, there are tables to sit at and activities to make the wait more pleasant. Everyone who has seen the change so far appreciates it, she adds – and this is something that’s somewhat of a relief for Ari and Alex.

“It’s kind of like putting yourself out there,” Ari says, “and you don’t know if people will like what they see.”

Still, the brothers didn’t hesitate to identify the work as their own. They painted their names on the trunk of one of the mural’s trees as though they’d been carved there, and this is just one of the interesting details they incorpo­rated – some others, such as clouds in the shapes of an airplane and a giraffe, can be found in the sky.

“They’ve made a big difference in the quality of the room and of the experi­ence people have here,” Kathryn Her­nandez, the clinic’s associate director, says of Alex and Ari. “Now, people feel more comfortable waiting.”

Despite their talent for it, neither Alex nor Ari plan to pursue art as a career. Ari is majoring in environmental engi­neering, and Alex plans to go to medical school. But both plan to keep creating art as a hobby – and it will definitely be enjoyable if it ever takes the form of an­other project like this.

“It brings us together as brothers, and it’s good community service,” Alex says. “When you work at home, you have can­vases just tucked away in a closet. But this is something that can touch other people.”

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at

ewisdom@npgco.com.