The process of installing colorful panels created by children in the 70,000-square-foot Art Park at Catfish Row has begun.

&#8220Now there’s art in the art park,” said Warren Central High School art teacher Nancy Mitchell, a volunteer in the effort to place art in the park.

Vicksburg building and maintenance employees began Friday placing the completed panels in the $2.8 million park on Mulberry Street and will continue this week. The panels were painted by children who participated in a weeks-long arts blitz led by Mitchell. Students from Sherman Avenue Elementary and Dana Road Elementary, assisted by art teachers Anita Houston and Lisa Grant, also made 200 tiles that will be placed on about 20 panels in the park.

Mitchell said about 125 panels in the concrete walls that line the park – inside and out – will display the elements used in creating visual art, such as color, shapes and lines. Signs will be placed in the different sections, defining the various elements, she added.

Workers are installing the art based on numbers on the back of each panel, which match up with numbers in the concrete, separating the elements of art into sections.

Because more panels are left to paint, Mitchell doesn’t expect all of the art to be installed until spring 2007.

&#8220It’s going to be a slow process,” she said. &#8220But, they are putting them up.”

Once all the art is installed, she expects it to last for about three years. At that point, more art will be created to put in its place.

Mitchell said the park will be a way to showcase children’s art in the community.

&#8220People have already been going” to the art park, she said. &#8220Now, it shows the creativity of our children.”

The catfish-themed park includes a steamboat-themed play area, restrooms, a stage and a splash fountain.