You will not just see the typical posters and signs highlighting student achievements and opportunities or declaring deadlines and dates on the walls of Waco High School.
Splashed on walls tucked between rows of lockers and classroom doors and on the pillars of the school’s library, art students have started painting murals, adding color and character to once barren slates.
While much of the work is still in progress, one student put the finishing touches this week on a mural she designed and intends to dedicate to victims of gun violence. Waco High will dedicate three murals, including the library pillars and gun violence mural, on Big Art Day, March 5.
Art teacher Hope Gereghty, a muralist, came up with the idea to have students paint murals in the school, transforming blank spaces into student works of art.
“Now that we’ve seen what these kids can do I want them to do more murals,” she said.
The fatal shooting of 17-year-old Aquarius McPhaul in September inspired senior Mikelle Rivers to transform a blank wall in her school into a mural dedicated to the dead Waco Independent School District student and others impacted by gun violence.
Rivers, 18, may not be able to stop gun violence by herself, but she wanted to send the message that it affects the entire community, not just the victims and their families.
“A lot of people are getting involved in gun violence in our school district, and I just wanted them to know that it wasn’t just their families that were affected. It was the whole community,” she said. “I did this for all the people who lost their lives and just to remind people that gun violence isn’t always the answer.
“We’re all still one.”
An art student since middle school, Rivers went through several draft designs for her mural, growing frustrated at times, but Gereghty and Rivers’ mentors with Communities in Schools, Charmion Fletcher and Marie Hines, encouraged her not to give up. Communities in Schools is a nonprofit that supports students and encourages them to stay in school.
“It was really cool to watch Mikelle go through all the emotions of sharing her design with other workers,” Gereghty said.
Instead of using red to depict a bloody scene, Rivers painted the words “stop gun violence” in orange ombre next to a larger-than-life black handprint. She chose the color orange because it is the color that represents gun violence awareness. Other art students traced their handprints on the wall in varying shades of gray around the words and the large handprint. It took about three weeks to complete the mural.
Fletcher, Waco High’s Communities in Schools site coordinator, said she thought Rivers’ mural was a great idea because it recognizes how gun violence affects children and teenagers.
“Sometimes, we don’t think about the kids,” she said.
Art students Ernesto Ramirez, Brandon Rodriguez and Matthew Contrerras worked on painting the library pillars this week. Each pillar reflects a genre of literature, such as graphic novels, science fiction, fantasy, romance, sports and history.
Gereghty said more than 200 art students have contributed to the library mural project, including students from all different art levels.
The third mural the school will dedicate March 5 will be designed by junior Epiphany Velasco.
— WACOTRIB
— WACOTRIB
