Student Mural Featured in Historic Peoria Warehouse District

Peoria Academy students’ artwork will be a featured mural in the Art Park located at C.T. Gabbert Remodeling & Construction in the Warehouse District starting August 17, 2017. What started as a class assignment has turned into much more for Peoria Academy Alumni.

Each year in Spanish, 8th-grade students learn about the “Mural Movement” which took place in Mexico after the Mexican Revolution. In the Mural Movement, Mexicans were empowered to unite as a country and thus creating their bond through art, specifically mural projects.  “As a way to tie the Mural Movement into the lives of our 8th graders, I ask them to create a mural depicting their journey through Peoria Academy, a relatable experience for all of them,” says Senor Salazar, Peoria Academy Middle School Spanish teacher.

The class was divided into groups of 3-4 students per group. Between them, they had to discuss their vision of their middle school experience and create a mural. Mya Williams, Kat Withers, Hannah Srinivasan and Charlie Wentworth created the mural on display in the Art Park. “We titled our mural “The Process,” says Charlie Wentworth, former Peoria Academy student. “We decided to begin with the creator on the left side to symbolize our teachers who helped shape our experience and education throughout our time at PA. Then the students go down the conveyor belt where they’re filled with knowledge and then off to their respective high schools.”

Peoria Academy will become the second Peoria area school featured in the Art Park. Chuck Gabbert, owner of C.T.Gabbert Remodeling & Construction, home to the Art Park says, “We like to give budding artists as well as established artists a venue to show their art and talent to a wider audience than they might normally have an opportunity to do. It’s fun for us to have a variety. And with school just starting we thought it would be a great time to hang our first student art of the school year.”