Each morning, the students of FHS are greeted with the latest changes to the lobby mural. As of (date), the mural stands completed to welcome whomever may enter.

Artists from Advanced Art have spent approximately 35 hours working on the mural project. But before the paint was splashed on the walls, lots of planning needed to be undertaken. Art teacher Kaylee Haggerty asked fellow teachers and administration to give their input on what the mural’s main theme should be. According to her, most replied with “school spirit.” The letters that spell out “Welcome from Freedom Bulldogs” represent that together the high school accepts the differences of our students and non-students.

The next step was to figure out exactly how to capture the theme in a way that the mural would unite the student body. Design ideas came from the students as they sketched in pairs to create the plans for the mural outline.

Once an outline was voted on by the class, the drafts of the individual letters followed. Each letter has a topic or subject that the majority of the student body can relate to, including sports, clubs and classes. Some of these include drama, art, science, band, mathematics, football, cheer and so much more. The train depicted on the left side of the mural is a nod to the numerous trains inhabit the tracks by the Ohio River. On the right, the Pittsburgh skyline represents the connection Freedom has with the city. Each of the students designed their own letter, creating theirs with original ideas. The students picked activities that they themselves are involved in, and wanted to showcase their appreciation for them through their design. Once a design was drafted, they talked with some of the teachers in charge of the activities in questions, getting opinions of what could also be included in the mural that would benefit the final product. The final drafts were eventually approved by Haggerty.

When the sketches were completed, transparencies were made of the drawings to project onto the wall where the mural was soon to be. Nimble hands went to work as the mural was sketched piece by piece.

After much diligence from the students, the final portion was to paint the mural using acrylic paint.

“We still have a lot to go, but it’s definitely turning out how I wanted it to be,” Haggerty said when the painting was underway.

Besides the mural, another art project had been occupying Haggerty and her students’ time. They were contacted by principal William Deal in August of this year to paint a snow plow owned by PennDOT. The project, which was led by Art 2, was designed to spread “school spirit” to the surrounding community.

Careful planning also went into this project including the measuring of the plow, making a proportionally-scaled sheet for the sketch and the multiple design ideas made by the students. In the end, they voted on which drawing would best suit the theme of “Take it Slow.” The design of the painting had sluggish animal- a turtle, sloth and snail- and the words “Take it Slow” written on it. The theme warns drivers to be cautious on the roads during winter months.
“The students were a little bit bummed that it [the artwork] was going to get destroyed as it’s being used, but I said art is kind of like that; it gets destroyed overtime eventually anyways,” Haggerty said.

The plow was finished Oct. 5, in time for any extreme weather that may come this winter.

Due to the great amount of effort and time that the art department has brought forth, the school displays “school spirit” in a visual way.