CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- An Aurora school is showing off an artistic discovery that had been hidden for decades.
Freeman Elementary School, 153 S. Randall Road, was constructed in 1928. Ten years later, a grand mural, Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock, was designed to welcome people as they ascended the grand stairway 80 years ago.
"That was the main entrance for many decades. You'd walk up the staircase and you'd see the painting up there," said Scott Sherwood, conservator, artist.
But after several decades of renovation and expansion, the mural was painted over and forgotten.
"Finally I determined that it was definitely possible. In 2018, I went in there and actually pealed white latex paint off this 1937 mural. It took us two months. We did it by hand without chemicals. We used a surgical scalpel.
"It's a scene of the Plymouth Colony in the early 1620's. It's 18-feet long by 8-feet high. It's quite large. It was a challenge to get into the building and get it up but we did it," he said.
"Out of sight, out of mind,” Sherwood said. “Hardly anyone remembered anything about it. I hope it hangs in its new space for another 100 years."
Sherwood will be the featured speaker on May 13.