Interactive art activities can empower children and adults to experience art as active participants rather than passive spectators. Fayetteville State University's Art Education program in North Carolina has established Panorama Kids, mural projects designed by kids and painted by community volunteers. As art students can attest, art is very much an intellectual enterprise, involving open-ended questions and problem-solving skills. One learns to improvise and adjust, using imagination and available materials. This article describes the experience of developing the mural project, an idea that evolved as different problems emerged. Through this project, middle- and high-school students learn to devise an original design illustrating positive aspects of their community; learn about methods of using a grid to maintain proportion in a large-scale painting; and participate in the creation and painting of a mural on a railroad car.