If you’ve visited the English hallway in the past couple weeks, you’ve likely seen the signs that read “WET PAINT” taped onto the walls. If you’ve visited more than once, then you’ve also probably seen the beginnings of the murals painted onto the once white and bare walls. AP Art students Alessia Lee, Hanna Faroghi, Addie Lacis, Macy Maxwell and Erin Kim are the seniors who are responsible for the new installments.
On the right side of the hallway, Kim, Lacis and Maxwell are creating a mural inspired by impressionist artists Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet. “We decided that we wanted to recreate famous paintings, so we took the ‘Starry Night’ and ‘The Poppy Field’ by Van Gogh and Monet and integrated that with things from Lake Oswego like the lake and stuff,” explained Kim.
The mural itself is in place of an AP Art portfolio. “The three seniors [Lacis, Maxwell and Kim] who are doing it did our art portfolios last year, so we’re just doing [the mural] instead,” said Maxwell. Kim added that they’ve “made a lot of progress so far,” and so hopefully the project will be done by the end of the year.
For all three seniors, this mural is the largest project they’ve ever worked on. Kim stated that the beginnings of the project were “kind of rough.” She further explained, “We didn’t know where to start in the beginning because we’ve never painted anything this big before.” However, they are feeling much more comfortable and confident with the project now that the sketch and first few layers of paint are down.
On the other side of the hallway, Faroghi and Lee are painting a scenic view from the perspective of a window overlooking the ocean. Both Lee and Faroghi searched on the internet and Pinterest to find interesting photos for inspiration. Lee described the mural as “a window opening up to see a beautiful land.”
Initially, the pair had planned to do a similar concept to Maxwell, Kim and Lacis: “We were going to find different pieces from different artists, but another group did that, so we thought we could just do something fun and creative,” said Faroghi. “I honestly think we wanted to paint something completely different from our previous paintings,” Lee said about why they chose to paint the landscape.
In regards to the actual process of painting the mural, Lee said, “It’s actually really annoying. The wall has this really odd texture, and it makes it super difficult to paint on it.” Similar to Maxwell, Lacis and Kim, this mural is also the first one that Faroghi and Lee have ever painted. It’s a creative challenge and a great way to show off what they’ve all learned from AP Art.
Already, both of the murals have brought some more joy to the English hallway. “A lot of the teachers, when they walk by, they’re like, ‘Our hallways were so boring before. We’re so happy this is happening,’” Kim shared. “I think it’s really nice to see that we’re able to bring some more creativity to the building.”
The seniors work on the murals during A2 when they have AP Art. Be sure to say hi if you see them working on the mural, or just stop by to appreciate the progress they’ve made.
