Murals with a past
Local students help brighten up Yuma High School hallway
Upon a wall once so dreary, now bursts paint so bright it makes you cheery,
Six Yuma artists penciled in many a scene of forgotten Yuma lore,
Drafting in sketches and painting with brushes so dearly
A mural to be proud of (so quoth the Chief Criminal, “Many more!”)
The undertaking of a mural at Yuma High School shows that grit, determination and talent can brighten any bleak wall and Yuma High Principal Faith Klostreich (aka the Chief Criminal) said she was happy with the results.
“This really takes this hallway to a whole new level of ‘wow,’” she said during an interview to show off the project.
Two high school student artists, Gila Ridge freshman Madison Gray and online charter school student Kelli Anne Dunton, helped see the Yuma High mural to fruition along with adult artists Mavreen Fleming-Sharrar, Littlewood and her twin Stefanie Littlewood and Denise Vaughn.
The Heritage Mural Project, which is funded by a grant through Yuma’s Heritage Library, hopes other schools and businesses get involved in a bid to give more students experience in creating public art, said artist Lia Littlewood, who was approached by the library’s Alex Garcia to assist with the project.
The planning got underway in October, with Littlewood advertising for area high school students to join the project. Planning sessions were held at the Heritage Library, where artists had access to the Arizona Historical Society’s Rio Colorado Archives (for photos and building descriptions) and Yuma historian Lynn La Brie.
“While I was painting the mural, I was amazed at how a blank wall turned into a mural,” Dunton said. “Sketching out the mural was easy, but painting the mural afterwards was fun and I felt carefree.”
Fleming said that public art projects such as murals help students learn to create processes that move from the abstract to the tangible.
“Students have to learn how to plan, design, sketch and then paint,” she said, with their (beginning) reputations as artists on the line. “That’s a big motivation for them.”
“I think painting a mural for the first time really helped me understand basic techniques when painting,” said Dunton, who noted she is “intrigued by makeup artistry” and is considering similar art jobs as a career.
Klostreich said that the older Yuma High buildings have been around since the early to mid-1910s (the union district was chartered in 1909), and she wanted something that would be “reflective of the whole community and inclusive of all backgrounds.”
Student artists submitted five different versions of various sketches to Klostreich, who approved the mural’s final path, and Plaza Paint helped keep the project’s costs down by donating paint and supplies, Lia Littlewood said. While the whole planning, sketching and approval process took about eight weeks from start to finish, the painting itself took just about 20 hours, said Lia, whose work in the community includes murals and brightly colored electrical boxes at city intersections.
For Gray, working on the project has given her new insight into Yuma’s past while she determines her own future.
“I thought about history and how fascinating (it is) to learn about the city I live in,” she said of her thoughts while painting. “This project has helped me learn new ways to draw and color. It has also showed me how interesting Yuma’s history really is. Lia and Mavreen were great instructors throughout this project.”
The Heritage Mural Project is open to freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors in the Yuma regional area. To inquire about having a mural painted, contact the project at heritagemuralproject@gmail.com.
“While I was painting the mural, I was amazed at how a blank wall turned into a mural.” — local student Kelli Anne Dunton