Painting Pixar

Homecoming Murals: Behind the Scenes

Pic+By%3A+Nancy+Hayes

Pic By: Nancy Hayes

Lacey Richardson

A new Homecoming season means a new set of murals on the amphitheater steps.  

Every year, the amphitheater is designed according to the Homecoming theme of that year, all thanks to the artists of Art III and IV. Students enjoy the murals, but not many really know what goes on behind the scenes.

To start out, the art students work in teams in which they are assigned a theme for their mural. This year’s overall theme being Disney Pixar, and all the class themes being painted are Incredibles, Toy Story, Up, and Monster’s Inc. From there, the students have to design a mural to fit their theme.

Then, the most difficult part of the whole process is chalking out the outlines, as it is being done on steps and not a flat surface. “You have to work with your team to sketch it out and to make sure that the sketches line up,” says senior Maddy Phelps, one of the team leaders.

The last step is painting the entirety of the mural. Given that the scale is much bigger than a normal piece of art, it can be time consuming. “Painting is the easiest, and also my favorite part of the mural,” says senior Kelsey Brendlen, another team leader, “you get to mix paint and experiment with color.”

With the murals comes difficulties to work around. During August, September, and October the weather is something to worry about. “It’s hard to work outside, especially if it’s hot,” says Kelsey, “also, last year it rained in the middle of the process and we had to paint over all the dirt and paint that got washed away.”

Senior Alexander Hill did his mural solo. Because he is a part of the AP Studio Art class, he can not do any group work because of the guidelines, but he still wanted to take part in the tradition. “I paint on wood a lot and have done murals outside of school so I knew how fast I could work,” says Alexander, “ I wanted to challenge myself and it worked out really well, and I kept up with the teams pretty well, I would say.”

Working on the large stepped surface of the amphitheater is hard for groups of five or six, let alone creating it with only one person. “The hardest part was drawing the initial design onto the steps as it was only me running back and forth to see if the drawing lined up.”

All of the hard work, sweat, and paint stained clothes surely has a positive outcome. “Seeing the finished product is so nice,” says Maddy, “and hearing people get excited for them is so rewarding.”

The murals allow the artists to add their own touch of art to the school, as well as adding to the overall environment of Homecoming.