In the bustling corridor outside the LMC, students pass by a vibrant addition: a splash of swirling color and striking visuals. Their eyes focus on the new mural finished over the summer, created by a group of Mounds View students. The project took them around eight months to complete.

The mural was started by senior Karin Hoyt, who got the idea while in art class. “I would always see that decal of the horse logo [in the Upper Commons] from the art room and thought I could do something better there,” said Hoyt.  “It would be easy and fun.”

She talked to her art teacher, Jim Bias, about painting the mural and then wrote up a proposal to paint it on the wall by the library.

Hoyt knew she wanted to involve others on this project. “I’ve worked on stuff like this before, and it’s something that I love to do, and a lot of my friends do arts and stuff like that. If you’ve never been a part of a big project like that, I feel like it’s an experience that people should have, so I just wanted people to be able to help, especially since you’ll be able to see it at your school and be like, ‘Hey, I did that part,’ or ‘This is what I helped with,’” said Hoyt.

About 30 painters contributed to the mural project. Many saw it as an opportunity to create something that could be enjoyed after they leave high school. “We wanted to make our mark on the school, and it’s cool because it’s going to be here for years to come, and we can look back on what we did for our school,” said senior Paige Friedman.

This large group of painters each brought their own style and creativity to bring the final piece together.

Hoyt’s biggest goal for the mural was to represent Mounds View High School’s community. The mural draws inspiration from several aspects of Mounds View, including student academics and athletics. The artists painted Mounds View alum Sam Hoyt, a soccer player, and senior Maya Francisco, a track runner. Hoyt also wanted to include symbols of Minnesota’s culture, such as monarch butterflies, a rainbow trout and snowflakes. Each element of the mural was planned to highlight all major parts of Mounds View. “She [had] students that she actually sat down with and interviewed, and they walked through her original idea and then analyzed it to see if it needed more things, and it was really cool, so I think the fact that she represented a lot of cultural differences in the school was huge,” said Bias.

The painting team overcame several challenges while in the planning process. One of the biggest was where to put the mural. “I was advertising it to people, and I said it was going to be on the curved wall by the library. But there’s this district policy where you can’t paint on the walls. […] So then we had to switch it to the wall opposite, and we had to cut out 15% of the mural that we had already painted, and we had to do it on the boards,” said Hoyt.

Another challenge that they faced was funding the project. “The school couldn’t support it financially. I was disappointed with that because I’d spent months trying to get it ready, and then I talked to Mr. Bias, Ms. Nelson-Rehder and Ms. Giere about it, and they said that I could use their leftover art budget at the end of the year,” said Hoyt.

Without the support of the art department Hoyt and the other painters would not have been able to create the mural.

Despite the obstacles during its creation, the mural has become a distinctive feature in the school. Its abstract design showcases important parts of Mounds View’s identity, Minnesota’s culture and depictions of student life. Appreciated by both students and staff, the mural reinforces the school’s connection to its community.

This story was originally published on Viewer on October 10, 2024.