Reported and Photos by Austin Dave, SCVNews.com

City officials held a dedication ceremony Saturday for a public art installation located on Soledad Canyon Road under the cross-valley connector bridge.

The “Connecting Through the Arts” project allowed 395 individuals from local schools to band together to create a mural that represents the Santa Clarita Valley.

The mural, located underneath the Golden Valley Road bridge that crosses Soledad Canyon Road, boasts a community-oriented theme.

“I think it builds community,” Marc Kolodziejczyk, executive director of the Special Children’s Art Foundation, said during a dedication ceremony Saturday at the Santa Clarita Activities Center.

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“It brings a sense of community to children with special needs, the students that are tutoring them, anybody who’s involved in the project,” he said. “It allows them to feel like they participated in something that’s way bigger than anything that they could have accomplished alone.

“We want our special-needs kids to have opportunities to feel like they are contributing to their community,” he said.

“We’re very proud,” said Golden Valley High School Assistant Principal Eran Zeevi. “We’ve taken our kids on field trips to see the mural and they’re loving it.”

“People will pass by it every day, thousands, and they can see this great public art work that represents art in Santa Clarita,” said Dr. Michael Millar, chairman of the Santa Clarita Arts Commission. “You can look in there and see our public art projects, Magic Mountain, our California Bear, and it’s helpful to know that our local students participated in it.”