LESLIE FRIDAY
BU Today

It started with a simple Craigslist ad: firefighters at the Huntington Avenue firehouse were looking for an artist to paint a commemorative portrait of one of their fallen.

When she saw the posting, Kristie Eden O’Donnell raced over with her portfolio before students from Massachusetts College of Art and Design, located across the street from the station, could lift a paintbrush.

“I came in here before they had a chance.” O’Donnell (CFA’10) says proudly.

For the next three months, O’Donnell and former classmate Anya Smolnikova (CFA’09) painted six commemorative portraits and are now putting the finishing touches on a 30-foot by 8 1/2-foot mural that sweeps across a third floor wall in the firehouse recreation room.

And they did it for free.

Read more on how the mural project expanded: A Firehouse Mural for the Fallen