DHS Walls Get Bright New Look
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Ever since the new school was built, Darien High School students have been bored with the plain blank walls, but recently students have been able to watch beautiful art come alive in the cafeteria. Class of 2008 students Marina Vilela and Taylor Willis literally left their mark when they transformed the cafeteria walls last June.
“My friends and I have always had conversations during our frees and lunch about how boring the walls in the school are, and I think everyone got really excited when Marina started with her colorful mural along the wall,” senior Natalie Carmona said.
The project to beautify the building with student art was held off due to the building of the new Tokeneke Elementary School. With the opening of that school successfully complete, DHS was free to begin its own campaign. As well as what can be seen in the cafeteria, there are plans for new art to be created on the first and second floors.
Marina Vilela’s creative inspiration is featured along the entryway wall in the café. When Marina’s mural painting class received approval from the administration to start painting, she knew the perfect spot to begin her work.
“As soon as Mr. Sorensen said that the wall right in front of the cafeteria was one of the spots, I was so excited because that wall was so dull-looking and it just screamed out 'save me'. And the curve in the wall would be a fun thing to play around with,” Marina said.
Many students may look at Marina’s mural and not understand what is going on: the artwork requires scrutiny. “As I am working on my mural, people ask me what it is and I say it is just shapes. But really it’s more than shapes. It’s all that goes through my mind as I walk down the hallway of our schools,” Marina said.
Marina put a lot of thought into her work, so students could connect with the mural. “I thought of doing something that would give the hallway movement and energy. And I thought of the bright colors to give the wall life,” Marina said. “Our minds as students are very busy and go everywhere--so that’s why I used so many shapes, to symbolize the craziness of our minds, which are always multitasking and speeding through life. I needed to create something that would embody that energy and movement,” Marina said.
Taylor Willis’s mural is located on the gym side of the café. This outstanding volleyball player’s decision what to paint was pretty simple. “Since I play a sport, I thought I'd paint a mural of sports near the gym," Willis said.
The administration is also putting up molding along the walls of the first floor, to hang student artwork created in art classes. The moldings will allow the artwork to be easily changed. "The artwork will not damage the walls because pictures can be moved around and replaced as time goes on, without leaving a mark on the walls,” Assistant Principal Donna Russo said.
However, don’t expect the movable artwork to brighten the wall anytime soon. “Hopefully by next year all of the moldings will be up, and slowly but surely the school will be more enjoyable and will exhibit the artistic talent here at Darien High School,” Mrs. Russo said.
