Rayburn High students at work on Rec Center mural

A group of about 45 students from Sam Rayburn High School began painting a mural Wednesday morning along one side of Pasadena's Multipurpose Recreation Center, 5200 Burke Road.

Rayburn High art teacher Cavan Leerkamp developed the initial design for the mural, which faces out onto a "universal playground" intended to accommodate children with disabilities.

"What we wanted to do is reflect the ethic of the universal playground," says Wayne Holt, the city's Publications Manager. "We asked Cavan to come up with something that had fantasy images, playful images, and abled and disabled kids playing together... [he] came up with a very clever depiction, using the windows in the side of the building [as] obstacles or walls that the kids are helping each other scale."

The mural will take up one entire side of the one-story building, Holt says. He expects the students to make significant progress on the painting by early this afternoon.

UltimatePasadena.com will be running a feature gallery of photos from the project once it's complete.