Leaving a Legacy of Art

Visitors at Saratoga Middle High School are now greeted by a mural in the hallway before entering the school thanks to Noel Shepard’s art class from last year.

It is the seniors’ gift to the school. Last year, Shepard had one student who helped her with the mural, Emily Gonzales.

The mural is a brightly colored painting of evergreen trees with everything Wyoming and Saratoga - including Panther Paws. Study it long enough and the state bird, the Meadowlark, can be found. The bright yellow background with bright red Indian Paintbrush greets visitors and reads Welcome to SMHS.

This year, Shepard has seven seniors who have put their heads together to come up with a new mural, which is located on the back of the trophy case in the commons room.

Allie Condict, Sophia Grubb, Josie Little, Milan Scott, Douglas Anderson, Jerah Johnson and Cheyenne McCormick were tasked to come up with an idea for the mural. Their deadline is to have it done before Christmas break.

Josie Little said she did some research on Pinterest after the students got together and came up with ideas of what they wanted to see in the mural. The ideas include their school, of course, Wyoming and Saratoga. The word “Toga” is painted in large block letters with a purple panther on top. At first glance, a person can find a calculator, chemistry vials, a basketball, a saxophone, painter’s palette and even a leaping trout.

The mural is still a work in progress. Condict said they work on the mural twice a week. Little said there is a lot of detailed work left to do and she hopes they will have it done by their deadline.

Anderson said Condict, Grubb, Little and Scott were the brains of the group. McCormick said Little implemented the ideas from the group onto the mural. Anderson said he just does what he is told.

Condict said she loved the fish she painted and Scott loved the flowers she painted. Anderson painted the saxophone. When asked if he played the saxophone, he said no, he just used photos as references.

Shepard is confident the students will have the mural done by Christmas break. She hopes to have students work on a mural next semester.

The mural will depend on the group of students she has next semester.

Shepard said this group is pretty amazing and she believes the mural will add a lot to the school.

“They will leave this mural behind and have something to be proud of,” Shepard said.