Mural Vandalism: Why We Need To Appreciate Art More

Earlier in October, a mural in the high school was vandalized. I'm not going to get into detail about how it was vandalized, but to give a sense it was enough to remove the mural for display, and restoration is unlikely.

The mural, shown here before the vandalism, depicts several characters and figures from many of history's most iconic paintings. Mona Lisa looks out the upper-left most window of the mural, while American Gothic peers through the second-floor columns on the right. This has to be my favorite display in the school because it brings some of the most well known and most admired artworks together, bringing life to each, all together in a colorful street.

Vandalism is more than just ruining artwork. It is defacing a person’s artwork, destroying his effort, and insulting his passion.

"To put this into perspective, imagine if someone talked loudly through your music recital, or broke your sports equipment." This is part of an email that the art department sent out Wednesday to all students and faculty at AB, explaining to the community the impact the vandalism has had on not just the art department but also the entire school. Throughout my three years so far in high-school, I have never seen the community come together so strongly. There have been pep rallies and sports championships, but vandalism units the school in a way that none of these could ever do because all of us are responsible.

“Why do you think someone would vandalize a mural?” the art department email asks. Although just the subject of vandalism is disturbing, there is always a motive behind the action that helps us as observers gain a better understanding of the cause.

“Think about what the person went through that made him act in this way,” says my English teacher. She makes us think about the reasoning behind the vandalism, and then how we as students may have been able to prevent it. We think about situations in which the vandal might have problems at home or with friends and perhaps built up with enough anger so as to use the mural as an outlet.

The incident became a mandatory point of discussion in advisory classes, and even beyond that it has come up in many of my classes. The school committee implemented a new requirement to graduate that starts with the incoming freshmen of 2013: students are required to take at least one art course during high-school to graduate. By complete student body involvement in drawing and painting, ceramics, or even photography, administration hopes that students will become more appreciative of art and stop to admire the displays in the hallways instead of ignoring them. I think this is a great step for our school, as I have noticed that a lot of the beautiful artwork in our school goes underappreciated by students who aren’t directly involved with the art department. Yes, AB is incredibly talented both athletically and academically, but one aspect of our school that the statistics miss is its talent artistically. Art, especially made by our peers, should never be disrespected to the point of destruction.

The email writes, “While most artists respect one another’s artwork, to intentionally and disrespectfully paint or draw on top of the murals or graffiti is considered the highest form of insult.”