Art Students Paint Mural In Cafeteria

A vibrant and symbolic mural is being created to personalize our school cafeteria, thanks to the vision of art students and the dedication of art department teachers. This project, wholly supported by school administration, is aiming to celebrate the diversity of our students and foster unity within the school community. “Mr. Williams is a huge supporter of the art program,” art teacher Angeliki Melchionne said. “He’s always looking for ways to integrate more of the arts into the public spaces of the building, so he’s been asking for a couple years for this.”

The mural’s inspiration stems from the idea of making the space feel more personalized and tailored to students’ identities. After an initial attempt a few years ago at a mural didn’t meet expectations, the department decided to paint over it and start anew. “That’s kind of the beauty of murals and graffiti art; it’s that evolution and change depending on our audience,” Melchionne said.

The final design, picked out of multiple iterations created by students of the National Art Honors Society, aims to depict a powerful metaphor for our school community. “The idea is for the bottom of it to have these individual fish and other sea creatures to represent the diversity of the student body, and then the top of it to be this pirate ship sailing through a storm,” Melchionne said. The overall message it is meant to communicate is resilience and that we’re all in this together, weathering through the turmoil of today. 

The project is funded by sales made on Artsonia.com, as well as previous art shows and donations made by Home Depot. “We had the sketch created using digital drawing applications, we used the projector to project it onto the wall. We’re using a variety of latex house paints and acrylic paints to add the color,” Melchionne said.

Seniors Caroline Vellon and Enessa Reyimbayeva are two of the five students who have dedicated their time and energy into seeing the mural flourish. “I’ve always wanted to be a part of a mural. The last time I was, way back in the 8th grade, it didn’t really work out so I wanted to kind of make up for that.” Expressing her want to create a lasting memory within the school, Caroline said. “I was really inspired by the seniors who graduated last year, and their enthusiasm for the mural, and I wanted to see it get done while I’m still a student.”

Enessa sees the opportunity as a chance to use her talent to make a contribution. “I want to leave my own mark on the school because I’m a senior now and I’m gonna leave soon, and knowing that I made something and it’s going to be here long after I’m gone for other future generations to see is kind of a really nice feeling.” She expanded on the team dynamic on the artists on this project. “We collaborate very nicely together because a few of us are not afraid of heights, so the ones that are not afraid go up top and paint the sky and sails, and the ones that are scared of heights, they stay down below, working on the boat and fixing up the water.”

The mural will stand as a testament to the creativity and dedication of art students and teachers. Through their unified efforts, the mural not only brings beauty but a lasting legacy for them to leave behind.