Murals: Piece of Manteca High’s art history soon lost

Writing on the wall

A picture of the mural in the 40 wing, outside of Manteca High teacher Jiana Boudreaux’s classroom.(CINDY PONCE/The Tower)

By CINDY PONCE 
The Tower  

With the demolition of the 20-60 west wings happening this summer, this raises the question for many students and alumni that have grown to love the murals scattered along the classroom walls.  

What will become of the eleven murals on the west wings this summer? Are they going to be forgotten in the concrete rubble, or will we have ways to honor and remember the pieces of art that students have created since the 90s?  

In an informal survey conducted by The Tower, students expressed their opinions and thoughts on Manteca High’s murals and their demolition.   

Only 16 percent of students, when asked whether they are upset about the murals being demolished or not, replied that they would not be bothered.  

Manteca High’s murals have become a distinctive part of every student’s passing period whether they realize it or not.  

Megan Peterson, Manteca High School’s principal, when interviewed by The Tower about the murals stated, “… even before when I was here, I loved walking the halls because the art is so pretty, so it's really the negative piece about this new build.” 

When students were questioned why there should be ways to remember and honor the art pieces 36 percent of students said that it’s part of the school’s history, 10 percent said that the pieces took time and hard work, and 8 percent said that the murals make Manteca High School unique, compared to other high schools in the district.  

Art teacher Jiana Boudreaux, when interviewed about why the murals deserve to be remembered, stated: “They’re a part of our history here at Manteca High… (Kirt Giovannoni) started that whole thing, and no other school has that. It’s something that’s very unique to Manteca High.”  

When the murals were first brought to Manteca High, Boudreaux said it was an attempt to stop students from graffitiing around the school’s campus. To the staff’s surprise, this worked and eliminated the graffiti issue completely.  

Year after year, students looked forward to being selected to create their own art piece that would be permanently a part of campus.  

Though preserving the murals in their tangible state is impossible without keeping the dated classrooms, administrators have made an effort in keeping a piece of them on campus.  

Currently, admin and photography teacher Carol Creighton are creating a book with an image of every mural that’s being torn down. This book will be showcased somewhere on campus; the location is not yet determined. 

“People still need to be walking by them and view them in our new facilities. It could be on the walls, inside the halls of the new buildings, however we’d want to do it, but it would be really cool to have those kind of as a throwback moment,” Boudreaux said.