“Live, speak, breathe tobacco-free,” reads the mural located near the Barrington Parking lot, widely visible to students and staff.
The mural displays the treacherous truths of smoking through a woman who is destroyed on the inside but appears somewhat put together on the outside.
Sponsored by the Tobacco-Use Prevention Education Program (TUPE), coordinator Fred Jacob contacted Mike Howard of Operation Cleanslate, who has designed many murals in a variety of schools.
This company often focuses on murals promoting good health and nutrition, though this is the first time a mural is dedicated to the drawbacks of smoking.
A few weeks ago, students from Lynn Ishii and Kate Campbell’s art classes were instructed to design projects with Anti-Tobacco themes.
Howard, Jacob, Ishii, Campbell and Principal Eric Davidson narrowed down the final three submissions to unanimously agree on Senior Sera Ha’s drawing.
“I felt honored, and surprised, as I wasn’t even aware my artwork had been entered,” said Ha, “I’m glad to be able to leave a mark on the school.”
In the past week, students from both art classes were being called out to work on the painting on a rotating basis.
“It was nice to see students so excited about an art project,” said Ishii. “I am now inspired to be involved with other similar types of projects in the future because this mural helped to bring students from different classes together to work as a community on a common goal.”
Jacob also praised the mural, commenting, “I’m so excited to see such a great quantity of enthusiasm and an increased level of professionalism in work.”
The design was initially intended to display no verbal message, until it was decided that a clear anti-smoking phrase would be beneficial to students and other onlookers.
Junior Shelly Grinfeld’s caption was then chosen to be displayed on the mural. This is an educational, campus beautification project with the purpose of spreading awareness on the dangers of smoking.
“We’re not done here,” adds Howard, “We love University High.”
Junior Marc Torres noted, “It was a really fulfilling experience. Helping to paint the mural was a lot of fun; it was really a unique opportunity.”