By Anh Thu Truong
On an ordinary day of school, you might be too busy bustling down the hallways from the art halls to the language wing, barely having the time to notice the vibrant murals that plaster the walls with life, culture, and color.
Upon close inspection, these murals don’t disappoint. These impressive artworks have been a staple of Fountain Valley’s hallways for more than twenty years. From colorful Japanese temples, Spanish flamenco dancers, to whimsical creatures and renditions of Frankenstein and Lilo & Stitch, these vibrant artworks are extensions of past students’ legacies in a bold, bright print.
Tony Pash, visual arts teacher who currently teaches intro art, graphic design and yearbook, mentions that the murals used to be directed by formerly retired art teacher Michael Eich.
“I believe they started in the late 90s. At the time, it was mostly Mr. Eich [that directed the murals], who retired about three years ago,” Pash said. “I helped him along the process when I started teaching here, so in my third year, we had about two or three students paint murals.”
From roaring dragons, streams of delicate koi fish to meme-filled art, the word ‘detailed’ would be an understatement. They bring our mundane hallways to life, adding a depth and dimension that demonstrate extraordinary artistic vision and extreme attention to minute details.
Kami Bigler, who teaches ceramics, mentions that the first ever murals that were painted in the art and economic hallway were a tribute to late teacher Janet Ju.
The figure in the mural is a representation of Ju, resembling her mother-nature persona along with the elements and beauty she was remembered by. The writing in the blue book is a tribute to her poetic influence.
“That’s how [the murals] started, it was a tribute to her. So these kids that started this started part of the wall had her before she passed, and then I took over and we finished the mural,” Bigler said.
Afterwards, Mr. Eich’s cartooning classes, as well as other clubs started many of murals covering the rest of the hallways.
“Some other groups started just doing it them on their own. Clubs started doing murals in other hallways, Mr. Pash recently did a mural with his art club out by the garden, and there’s more in the foreign language hallway,” Bigler said.
But as you take a closer look, past the lingering pencil sketches and the splotches of white canvas, some of the paintings remain largely unfinished.
“I mean, some of them, especially in the art halls, have remained unfinished for a very long time. [Right before Mr. Eich retired] He had a really great group of painting students,” Pash said. “But again, [their paintings remain] unfinished because they graduated.”
The decision for current students to finish these uncompleted murals has remained up in the air. Those who have graduated left their unfinished vision in the hallways, and there are many challenges encountered when it comes to completing a large mural of someone else’s work.
“It’s really hard to do that because you’re trying to repaint somebody else’s vision, and [it’s difficult] to mix the same colors,” Pash said. “It’s a hard tactical thing to do, I’ve asked students to do that but they’d rather start their own.”
At this time, there are no active murals in progress. However, large artistic projects require extensive materials, meticulous planning and time dedicated outside of the classroom, and without a director, there’s little reassurance that more murals will be added. Pash offers the idea of restarting the mural program entirely one day, in order to start anew and give the hallways a fresher look.
“I’ve been thinking of covering a lot of those and starting new. It would give the halls a better look if they were more fluid,” Pash said. “If I taught AP drawing students again, [I could] possibly [continue the program], but right now I flip-flop between classes.”
Bigler also brings up how difficult it might be the start up the program again, as it would require lots of planning within the school’s supervision and scheduling.
“But now that our art classes are strung all across campus, to bring kids over here [the hallways], somebody has to watch them, or somebody has to monitor them. So then it must be done after hours, and that’s difficult,” Bigler said. “I mean, it would be something we would love to continue, it’s just really hard to navigate.”
This article was updated on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 11:00 p.m to clarify that the first murals painted were apart of a tribute to late teacher, Janet Ju.
