Photo provided. Artist Scott Hagan applies the final touches to a multicolored visage of Buckeye Local Junior-Senior High School’s panther mascot, one of two murals he has created for the school’s new Panther Den.

RAYLAND — Young artists at Buckeye Local Junior-Senior High School have a new place to showcase their work that is complemented by two wall-size murals created by an area artist known for his efforts on even larger “canvases.”

Visitors to the first Buckeye Local Junior-Senior High School Art Fair held at the school’s new Panther Café, surveyed not only the variety of paintings, sketches and other works of art created by members of the school’s art club and other students.

Many also got their first look at the two murals created by Scott Hagan of Jerusalem, Ohio, known as the Barn Artist for the art he has created on farms across the U.S. and Canada.

Occupying more than 30 square feet, the murals include a multicolored close-up of the fierce countenance of the panther mascot and on the adjoining wall, a silhouette of the jungle cat in a tropical setting.

Hagan noted he made the less conventional choice of shades of blue and silver for the scene as a nod to the school’s colors.

He revealed he sketched the scene on the computer before drawing it on the wall with a grease pencil.

It’s not the first time Hagan has applied his artistic skills at the building, as he also is responsible for the panther that figures prominently in the school’s gym.

Hagan said he began drawing at an early age, but it was while attending Wellsville High School that he gravitated to larger “canvases” for his art. That included painting cartoon characters on friends’ vehicles and the mascot on the 50-yard line of the school’s football field.

His first barn painting was of Brutus, the Ohio State University mascot, on the side of his father’s barn in 1997.

“I just did it for fun, as a challenge to do something that size,” said Hagan.

That led to his being commissioned to paint a logo celebrating Ohio’s bicentennial on barns in each of the state’s 88 counties, an endeavor that took three years.

“I’m the Barn Artist, but I paint all types of stuff,” he said, noting that has included work at many area schools, from mascots and logos on athletic stadiums and gymnasiums to a portrait of country singer Brad Paisley at his alma mater, John Marshall High School.

Asked if he has a favorite, Hagan said, “It’s like saying which of your children is your favorite.”

But among those of which he is proud are a stone castle, sword and bolt of lightning painted at Tyler Consolidated High School, homes of the Silver Knights; and a husky in the gym at Harrison Central High School.

He noted Harrison Hills school personnel have used the dog’s glaring eyes in many of their materials.

Amanda Gruber, adviser for the Buckeye Local High School Art Club, was happy to have a new location for the group’s annual art show, which coincided with the spring concerts of the junior high and high school band and choral ensembles.

She added there are plans to display students’ art there through the school year.

Luke Parsons, the school’s principal, noted the Panther Den also includes the Panther Café, where students in the school’s Foods program serve coffee and snacks; and an updated STEM lab, with eSports and makerspace equipment students may use for recreation and projects.

He said renovations and new furnishings to the area were supported by a $20,000 grant from the Charles M. and Thelma M. Pugliese Charitable Foundation.