Tamaqua Area Middle School Art Club students are painting Schuylkill County’s past, present and future on a replica of the Liberty Bell.

On it, they’ve brushed in everything from coal mines to textile mills, and from Mrs. T to Muhammad Ali.

When it’s finished, it will be placed at Tamaqua’s Liberty Tree Park as part of America250PA’s “Bells Across PA” public art project.

The bells are meant to commemorate the 250th birthday of the United States, and one will be placed in every county.

“We researched a lot of Schuylkill County history and businesses — and we kept on adding things,” said Kim Woodward, the middle school art instructor who’s directing the project.

Work began on the 3-foot fiberglass bell several weeks ago.

Already, it boasts dozens of images that were discussed, sketched and painted by the students.

The county’s mining and agriculture industries are featured, as are businesses like Guers Dairy, Yuengling Brewery and Kowalonek’s Kielbasy Shop.

Look closer and you’ll see a coal breaker, the Tamaqua Train Station, Molly Maguires, Schuylkill County Courthouse, a train and logos for Heisler’s Cloverleaf Dairy, Plain and Fancy Donut Shop and Koch’s Turkey Farm.

It’s not only an artistic undertaking, it’s a history lesson with twists and turns that lead to more and more background on the county, Woodward said.

“So it’s not just art, it’s learning and educating for future generations,” Woodward said of the bell, which students titled, “Freedom to Change.”

For student Jolie Calderon, it meant learning about the significance of a bright yellow canary painted on the bell.

“We have it near the mine,” she explained, motioning to a coal miner, shovel and mine. “They would bring this bird down into the mine to see if the oxygen was good enough.”

If the bird would pass away, it meant that levels of carbon monoxide and other toxic gases were too high — and that miners should evacuate, she said.

“Basically, it was like a tester,” Calderon said.

Student Luke Walser said that he learned about coal mining unions and the Molly Maguires, a secret society of Irish immigrants who fought against exploitative work conditions.

While he painted lumps of anthracite on the bell, Walser said his favorite part of the design represented Heisler’s in the Lewistown Valley.

“I’ve always went there as a kid for good food and good memories,” Walser said.

Carlos Torres favors a portrait of fighter Muhammad Ali, whose Fighter’s Heaven training camp was near Deer Lake.

Jaxon George said he simply likes the container of Guers’ iced tea, one of the county’s staple beverages.

“I really like the fountain (at Depot Square Park) just because it’s been in Tamaqua for a while and everybody knows about it, ” student Anna Hadesty added. “It’s a familiar thing for everyone.”

Woodward reminded students that the site of the fountain was once a gas station.

“To make progress in a community, you need a green space — and we didn’t have a green space,” Woodward said. “Community leaders have the foresight to plan that, and change it. That’s what you guys have to think about: what isn’t working and what we need to change.”

The students recently began designing the top part of the bell.

We weren’t sure what we were going to do,” Woodward said. “I was explaining to them how we used to have neighborhood schools and factories — a lot of the women sewed.”

Students decided to paint an antique sewing machine to represent the once-flourishing garment industry. It stitches a red, white and blue ribbon that flows through the words, “Schuylkill County.”

No date for the bell’s installation at the North Railroad Street park has been set.

It will share space with a Liberty Tree, a tulip poplar with ancestry dating back to the Revolutionary War. Students even included a growing poplar on the bell.

Woodward said the group will develop a QR code that will link to a website explaining the images on the bell. She would also like to see a coloring book for children featuring some of the art — yet another way to learn.

While the bell is 90% finished, artwork ideas continue to flow.

On a recent afternoon, the art club discussed the Temple University rural dental clinic campus planned for the former Rite Aid building in Tamaqua.

To represent it, they’ll sketch a tooth.

“The ideas keep coming,” Woodward said.

When the bell is complete, students will trade paints for pencils to write letters that will be included in a time capsule. The capsule will be buried at the park and opened in 50 years, Woodward said.

Schuylkill County’s bell is likely the only one created by a group of students.

Art Club members also include Ellie Bamford, Ava Breiner, Emily Buchman, Liberty Coleman, Jaxon George, Adalyn Faust, Michael Greider, S Owen Hartzell, Aubriana Kleckner, Brennan Knepper, Aubrey Kokinda, Jamal Labell, Anna Claire Miles, Kendal Nevenglosky, Angelo Nunez, Xander Paul, Lilee Rascavage, Chase Reinhard, Carlos Torres and Grace Semko.