E.J. Toll Middle School Mural

The Lunch Quad

At the beginning of the month, Urban Artista began painting a 56' long mural in the Lunch Quad area of E.J. Toll Middle School in celebration of multiculturalism and unity on campus. The graduating 8th grade class decided that their gift for the next class would be a mural.

But this school was not always as strong as it is now. There was a time not too long ago that each "click" had its own corner in this quad. A lot tension would build between these clicks and fights would break out between the kids. But thanks to the determination of the students and staff of wanting to unite the class, they now have a great sense of pride and unity with one and other.

The wall before we began painting the mural

Mrs. Sona Arakelyan, Assistant Principal at Toll, spearheaded this project when I was referred to her for the project. She came to me with an idea and theme that the mural was to be and I took care of the rest. We had a few meetings and began the design of the mural. When we were ready to begin painting the mural, I called for my good friend and fellow artist, Ivan Gonzalez to come down to L.A. and help me out on this big project. This was a great place to work at. We were shaded the entire time we were painting and the weather was perfect. A constant northern breeze through the quad gave us a refreshing feeling while we painted. We put in 12 hours a day for over a week on this mural. After long days that would fall into the night, the final outcome was well worth it. All the staff and visitors were very welcoming and helpful. I hope we can work together again in the near future.

Here are a few progress shots of the mural. I will have some more  pictures of the final piece soon.

-Jimmy