Select seniors are chosen every year to take part in showing RHS what their artistic abilities are capable of. Art teacher, Fiona Rawson, helps students extend their creative thoughts outside of the classroom and onto the walls.

        Aside from the murals themselves, a lot of other work goes into the class of Senior Art seminar. Beginning at the end of their junior year, students are given a list of assignments to complete over the summer which provides both motivation and an expectation for the upcoming school year. In their first trimester of senior year, the students choose a theme that is incorporated into all of their artwork. Any finished pieces are added to their portfolios for future colleges and aspirations. Towards the end of first trimester, the seniors pick the painting they would like to display in the hallway. In order to use the painting, it must be approved by the artists themselves. If the artist is deceased, then they do not need permission. After approval from the artist, both picture and placement must be approved by principal Patrick Adams and Rawson.

        Seniors Tyler Hicks, Jessica Near, and Ryan Copeland chose an unnamed street art piece created by artist Insane51. The painting displays a wide variety of colors that will make the freshman wing pop. The students chose the placement because there is only one other mural in the freshman wing, and they saw the hall as a blank canvas.

        “I really enjoy street art and fell in love with the color of the portrait,” Copeland said.

        Seniors Kathryn Pickutoski and A’Janae Cameron have also chosen an unnamed piece painted by Shepard Farley, which is originally located on Campus Martius in Detroit, MI. The original painting is 160 ft. high, but will on be 11 1/2 ft high in the lunchroom.

        “The painting is really simple and elegant and we want as many people to be able to see it and that is why we chose the lunch room as our placement,” Cameron said.

        Seniors Jalissa Long-Jolley and Paige Sopiak chose the painting “Our Banner in the Sky” by  artist Frederich Edwin Church. With the piece representing a historical past, Long-Jolley and Sopiak decided to dedicate in memory of late,  history teacher Michael Sharp.

“The mural is no doubt challenging due to all of the blending, but despite of the difficulty, we are so excited to see the finished project. We have both been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time,” Long-Jolley said.

The murals are still in the process of being completed, but the unveiling is scheduled in April.