By Katy Granath Posted June 3, 2009
The career technology mural was a three-week project involving somewhere around 35 students, 22 cans of paint, and a creative melding of more than 40 designs.
“Mrs. [Rebecca] Hill saw the mural we did in Godinez’s mural and said ‘Hey our shop building could really use something like this,’” said Andy Anderson, one of Lowry’s art teachers. He decided to take on the tough task of livening up one of Lowry’s plain hallways with a double-wall mural.
After deciding to go ahead with it, Anderson began recruiting artists. Luckily for him, he teaches four advanced -level art classes. “Because of the size of the project I knew it would take at least two of my classes to paint,” he said.
By March both of Anderson’s Advanced Art classes were involved in the process. His classes researched murals, the elements of their design, and what made great murals pop. Each student turned in an original two-wall mural design, which Anderson grafted together into one design.
“I took the best elements of each design and worked one into a day landscape and one into a nightscape.”
The students began painting daily during their class periods. First base colors were applied to each wall, and then shading and detail were added. Now mountains sit under cotton candy clouds, and a cow looks inquisitively from its wall at the opposite side of the hall, which features a rocket bursting from a plume of smoke, as well as the last vestiges of a sunset over deep purple mountains.
The shop building’s mural was part of Lowry’s showcase last week.
“I feel proud to have actually made a mark on the high school so that way I can come back and say I did it,” said senior art student Arielle Much, for whom the mural holds significance since she will be graduating tomorrow night. Each of the artists has reason to be proud of their hard work on this mural.
