When she arrives at Little Prince and Princess Learning Center in Brockton in the morning, says Ruth Harris, the preschool’s director, she often finds some of her students singing and dancing before a large painting in the hallway.

The children were ecstatic Feb. 1, she said, when they first caught sight of the four-foot-by-five-foot work, which depicts themes of love, unity, and imagination. But every morning since, she added, it’s as if the youngsters — most of them underprivileged children of color and all 18 months to 8 years old — are seeing it for the first time.

She might “have to take it down for a while,’’ Harris joked, “because they don’t go to the classroom.’’

The painting, all bright colors and simple shapes, evokes a child’s board game, with both starting and finishing points. It tells a story of four children of different races on a winding journey, passing symbols of balance, strength, and harmony. Both above and below, the work is bordered by chalkboards where students can get creative themselves.

It was created by Jamaal Eversley, a 27-year-old artist from Randolph, supported by a $500 grant from the Bridgewater Cultural Council. Originally, Eversley was supposed to beautify an electrical box in Bridgewater but when that plan fell through, he turned to nearby Brockton, where he’d volunteered in the past, looking for a suitable project.

“He’s an immensely talented artist,’’ said Nora Tarr, co-chair of the Bridgewater council. “He’s creative and original; and beside that, we knew he was going to follow through.’’

Eversley estimates he put in about 100 hours on the piece, working on it most January evenings while holding down two daytime jobs.

He calls himself a colorist, an artist who focuses on the emotion and harmony colors can bring. The dominating shades of red and yellow in his Brockton work symbolize passion, vibrancy, and boldness — themes he knew children would get and embrace but that adults might not.

“My art seems simple; it’s geared toward the child in you,’’ he said. “Children don’t have the barriers that we put on ourselves.’’

What makes the painting unique, he continued, is its chalkboard borders inviting children to play artist themselves. Harris said some students have taken the invitation one step further, creating art works of their own since Eversley’s appeared.

“I wanted to teach the children without teaching them,’’ said Eversley, “to have their mind go out somewhere and be creative.’’

Bret Hauff can be reached at bret.hauff@globe.com. Follow him @b_hauff.