MERRIMAC — The public is welcome to stop by Dr. Frederick N. Sweetsir School at 104 Church St. this month to observe art being created before their eyes.

The nonprofit Pentucket Arts Foundation has hired local muralist Jenn Houle to design and install the final mural of its three-phased public art project, “Natural Restorations”.

The impetus for the project was sparked by a donation to the arts foundation from the Essex County Community Foundation during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Phase 1 was completed at the Groveland Water and Sewer Building in 2021 by West Newbury graphic artist Jen Pepper. It depicts a woodland landscape – complete with pine trees, a rabbit and deer – abutting the Merrimack River.

Phase 2 was installed last year on two exterior walls at West Newbury Food Mart by muralist Alexander Golob. Referencing American folk art through style and bold color choices, he created a piece that spoke to West Newbury’s character and agrarian history.

“It’s really wonderful how the magnificent artwork from both the Groveland and West Newbury murals have moved and inspired a community,” said foundation co-Chair Sue Stasiuk, who is overseeing the multiyear project.

Painted on an exterior wall at the front of the elementary school, the mural’s background will be large-scale silhouette paintings of native plants.

“Native plants offer the most sustainable habitat and food to local animals and invertebrates, having co-evolved with them over millennia, and are an important homegrown solution to help address the climate crisis,” notes the artist, who frequently uses her art to express thoughts on environmental issues.

With the plants serving as a background, Houle is painting six large-scale butterflies – all species from Massachusetts.

Four small butterflies are designed at the average heights of children in prekindergarten through second grade so students can document their own growth during their time at the school.

And the two large adult butterflies leaning toward one another represent the need for support and collaboration while raising and educating children, according to Houle.

The interactive mural can also serve as a source of inspiration and discussion for prekindergarten through second-grade science classes, including animal and plant interaction and interconnection; as well as their structure and behavior – including metamorphosis.

“The mural highlights the importance of native plants to pollinators and ecosystem health, and also represents interconnection and community both in the natural and human worlds,” Houle explained.

Now in its 20th year serving the community, the all-volunteer Pentucket Arts Foundation applied for funding as seed money for a multitown art installation that would employ local artists and allow people to come together through creativity in an outdoor setting.

Haverhill Bank and the Massachusetts Cultural Council are sponsors of this initiative.

Houle intends to paint Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. but said this schedule could change. She hopes to finish by September, but the end date may extend into fall.

For more information about the Pentucket Arts Foundation, visit pentucketarts.org.