COCOLALLA — The bathrooms at Southside Elementary were just that, bathrooms.

Over the past two weeks, however, the bathrooms have been transformed into works of art by local artist Daris Judd, with the help of her granddaughter, Maya Arnold.

"It's just neat having art in the schools," Judd said. "... I think all of the teachers do a really good job of trying to keep art in the schools."

Especially in the winter, Arnold said, the rooms can get "dull." That will no longer be an issue as the girls bathroom now has an intricate design of trees, flowers, birds, little houses and a lot of color. For the boys, the bathroom now has an image of a road across one side, as well as gears and wheels and other colorful designs dotting the walls.

Judd said some of the designs came from sketches she had in her notebook, which she expanded off to create the art for the girls bathroom. Tammy Miller, who was PTA president of Southside for a time also helped paint the boys bathroom. Wearing her Kaleidoscope Art Program apron, Judd said the bathroom project was sponsored by the Pend Oreille Arts Council.

Arnold is a junior at Sandpoint High School and aspires to be an interior designer, so helping her grandmother paint the bathrooms was a good experience, she said.

"It's awesome — it's very exciting," Arnold said about helping with the painting, adding that she has been interested in art most of her life.

She learned a lot during the project, she said, as far as technique and measurements for the layout, particularly around the mirrors. She was excited to see everything come together during the last couple days of painting.

Judd said art has been proven to pave the way for other subjects, which is why it is important to keep it in the schools.

Southside Principal Jacque Johnson said as they work toward becoming a STEAM certified school, moving from STEM to STEAM, there is a focus on the "A" with "art everywhere."

"Just the creative power of visual expression," she said, also noting the research behind positive behavioral interventions and supports. "The research behind that says that when there are fun things like that, the kids take care of the bathrooms. So we are curious to see it play out."

Mary Malone can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.