Making the Mural: Art and Community at Round Lake High School
By Lyanne Santana, RLHS
Scholar Coach
“People may perceive the mural as simply a tree with a bunch of books at the bottom with a sunset as the background, but it is so much more than that.”
–Esmeralda Mendoza ‘17
From September to January, Round Lake Scholars
have been working together to create a mural that brings life to our new
resource room. I directed this project as a part of Artists After Hours, RLHS’s
Schuler-run after school art program. Over the course of 10 sessions, thirteen
Scholars conceptualized, designed, and painted a mural to decorate the new
resource room. The mural features the silhouette of a Schuler tree against a
sunrise gradient, with two figures representing Scholars using the tree as a
support. Beneath the tree are books ranging in topics that are important to the
development of a Scholar, such as REP, camp, and APB. We used a mixture of
materials for the piece including latex wall paint and primer, acrylic paint (including
a glow in the dark color for the stars), glitter, and chalkboard paint for the
tree and the figures. The result is a vibrant and interactive art piece that
will last.
While the final result reflects Schuler Scholars
and provides opportunity for lasting engagement, the process itself was a
display of the strength of this Schuler community. As the leader of this
project and program, I am very proud of how they have grown as artistic
collaborators. It was an incredible opportunity to support Scholars in
implementing a vision that makes the resource room their own and invites others
to continue creating. Read on to hear from the artists and take a peek at our
process.
Scholar Reflections:
“Originally, I was
incredibly hesitant to even get close to the mural in fear of messing it up (I
am not as artistically inclined as the others helping out), but wow! The
sessions were incredibly fun, the environment really relaxed and so despite my
inability I was able to make a contribution and feel a part of the project.
That alone I believe is the idea of the mural, that sort of togetherness and
community that the Schuler Program maintains and so it is definitely a huge
addition to the environment.” -Nadia McPherson '19
“The process of painting
the mural went really smooth it was very relaxing and fun. I personally
enjoyed it and I think that all the scholars did great overall and the final
result was amazing." — Daisy Alcantar ‘20
“The whole process of
painting the mural was fun overall even though we face a couple of obstacles.
Something we tripped over was blending the right colors to paint the sunrise
gradient. When we first began making it we placed the primary colors and
blended a lot to mix the colors but that didn't work because it dried too
quickly. We found a solution to it eventually, a really great one, which was to
paint the main colors and then mix colors using different proportions in
between them and blend. I really enjoyed painting the mural because we all
worked together and had fun, destressed ourselves, which is great. If given the
chance I'll totally do it again, who knows maybe someday we can make one in the
other Schuler room.” — Danny
Sanchez ‘19
“I enjoyed the process, especially because
with time, more people showed up to help with the mural. Only a few of us were
present for the brainstorming process, and it was interesting to see what
everyone came up with. The best thing was that at the end, we all had to
collaborate in order to synthesize these ideas. So, the end result is really
special, because it preserves the collaborative effort of Schuler Scholars. I
think that by having this mural it will embody the spirit of the Scholars.” — Emily
Luna ‘19
“During the making of
the mural I wasn't really a part of it until the painting started, but that
goes to show how the Schuler community helps each other out. Certain people
created the design and then others added on to it to make it as great as it can
be.” — Ashley Rodriguez ‘20
Mural Making Process:
Priming the wall |
First attempt at blending the gradient |
Laying out the background |
After a long painting session |
After successfully blending the gradient |
Modeling |
Nadia having fun painting the chalkboard tree |
Working on the details |
Final product! |
This story and this mural make really happy. It looks amazing! I miss you guys!
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