Hundreds of Niles, Des Plaines, Glenview and Morton Grove kids contributed colorful designs to the Niles Teen Center's Tile Art Project. Months in the making, the bright collage, with the designs embossed on original ceramic tiles, got public fanfare at its unveiling Saturday.

State Rep. John D'Amico, Niles Mayor Robert Callero and other officials were on hand at Golf Mill Shopping Center to help rip red wrapping paper off the frame to reveal the ceramic-based artwork.

"This all got started last October when Lights On Afterschool took place," said Monika Kalicki, Golf Mill's marketing director, referring to a day when kids, teens and community members gathered for a celebration of Lights On Afterschool, a nationwide effort to support after-school programs for children.

Earlier: Celebrating after-school programs

"Kids drew designs that day, and we sent out the (paper) squares to schools," said Mark Williams, director of the Niles Teen Center, which is located at Golf Mill. "I got some artwork back from St. John Brebeuf School, District 63's TLC program and my (Niles Teen Center) kids."

The kids were instructed to draw a colorful picture on their paper squares, and many of them were chosen to be reproduced onto ceramic tiles. Those tiles were then assembled into a frame to create the artwork.

"We had representation from kids as young as kindergarten to eighth graders," Williams said.

The Tile Art Project can be viewed in a hallway outside JCPenney, near Entrance 8, at Golf Mill.

The artwork was sponsored by JCPenney, Golf Mill and the Niles Teen Center, Kalicki said, and JCPenney helped fund the production of the artwork.