There are many purposes of Skyline’s murals: they brighten up the hallway, are powerful to see, and they express people’s creativity and thinking. The murals are made by many different organizations like clubs, social justice classes, and graphic design students. 

But there are no murals on the upper floors, even though every other floor has them. 

“The first floor was where we started [creating murals] just because when I first came here seven years ago, it was nothing but white. It was so boring,” says Cheryl Plouffe, Social Justice teacher behind many of the murals at Skyline. “We thought, well. We need to add some color to that. It’s where everybody in the school eventually has health, music, whatever. So they’re all going to be down there.”

There is a lot to do before the mural can even get a space on the wall –more than you might expect. “So the students start by designing what they want the mural to look like, then we have to get it approved by the administration,” said Plouffe. “Then, we started ordering paints…. We get the scaffolding signed out from the theater group, all of the equipment that we need, and the projector from the library. So there’s a lot of things that we have to put together before we can actually start on the mural itself.“

Mural painting can be an arduous process for clubs, especially when they only meet once a week. “We have not done any other murals. said Ale Fry (‘25) member of Aguila Unida, formally Latino Student Union. And I believe the process began last year or maybe two years ago….” said “[It] took a while to get the form submitted and get the paint and start and we only work on it once a week. So it takes time.”

The murals in Skyline are more than just paintings on a wall. They are a way to make a link with other students in Skyline and to come together for a common goal.

“Honestly, [I] just [enjoy] the connection you make because it kind of gives us all something to do,” said Fry “And it’s a really great way to connect with people through art [although] I’m not particularly artistic. So working on a mural has helped me, you know, figure out that I do actually like painting and it’s just really fun to work on something with a bunch of people and see it come together.”