MEXICO – A walk down the corridors of Mountain Valley Middle School is a feast for the eyes and the souls of art lovers. For everywhere, there is art.
Some of the paintings are based on ones created by such masters as Pablo Picasso, Edvard Munch, Henri Rousseau, Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe and a multitude of others.
Then there are the original creations by the students themselves – a covered bridge, Spider-Man, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and the school’s logo, a hawk.
Right now, there are well over 300 paintings, most painted on the 2-by-4-foot ceiling tiles, others painted on canvas for hanging on the wall or painted directly on the walls and almost anywhere else that has room.
The art project began soon after the school became a middle school in 1990, said Principal Charles Lever. Former art teacher Judy Puuia initiated the project, that’s now 16 years old.
At first, said Lever, students created copies of pictures chronicling the history of art, starting with caveman wall paintings.
A walk down one of the corridors is a walk down art history.
He added that the paintings now spread to most corridors, the cafeteria and the lobby, the display is also a history of the students who have attended the middle school.
“Students who were here in the 1990s come back to see if their paintings are still there,” Lever said.
Each painting, whether an original or a copy, is signed and dated by the student artist.
Lever said in the early days of the ceiling display, tiles were often taken down for display at area art shows.
Jan Barlow’s eight-grade students plan to add to the ongoing and growing display.
Shawnee Akers and Carmella Glazier plan to re-create two of O’Keeffe’s paintings, a sunflower and a ram’s head. Levi Rajaniemi is interested in a Rousseau jungle theme.
Then all students will create their own artworks. Shawnee is thinking of a U.S. map and eagle, while Levi is considering a Chinese symbol, such as the yin and yang. Carmella hasn’t decided yet.
Comments are no longer available on this story