90-Year-Old Watchman Turns Russian School Into Veritable Art Gallery

After 25 years of teaching art at several schools, Valery Khramov finally retired from his job, but not from art. The 90-year-old spent the entire summer painting the walls at the school where he currently works as a watchman. He singlehandedly managed to transform the boring institution into an ethereal space, just in time for the new academic year.

“I spent the last three months at school,” Valery told the local media. “All I did was paint and draw. It has been 10 days since I slept – it was necessary to have time to finish everything for the new academic year.” And now that the kids are back in school, they’re absolutely thrilled with the new decor. In fact, first graders are actually being taken on tours of the ‘gallery’.

Valery, who has been painting since childhood, was only 16 years old when he first painted episodes of the Soviet-Finnish war on the walls of a two-bedroom apartment. But when he finished school, he decided to train to become a pilot instead of studying art. Life had other plans for him though – he suffered an injury that left him incapable of flying, and ended up going to art school after all. Since then, he’s been painting freehand on walls – he never makes any plans or sketches before he starts.
Oddity Central.