Over President’s Day weekend we spent Sunday and Monday spray painting a 14 foot high by 25 foot wide wood-paneled wall on a building at the largest high school in the state. On really high portions of the wall, Lead Muralist, Ken (East 3) Nishimura and Trysen (TKay2) Kaneshige stood on ten foot ladders painting with great balance while Aranzazu (Atres) Ascunce and Akira (Akira1) Woods served as support, holding ladders, with great focus.
We used the Campbell High School colors, orange and black, to highlight the words as a display of team spirit. We also acknowledged the statue of the birth of Ka’ahupahau (Kazu Fukada) at the school’s main entrance by painting our first two sharks in any NEOMP mural. You will find one shark on the right by East3, a hammerhead that feels like it’s hovering over you when you stand next to the wall, and the shadow of a tiger shark on the left by Tkay2.
One little girl that stopped by while we painted thought we should build a gate around the mural to protect it. Hopefully, two layers of a UV matte coat and an appreciation and respect for the love and sweat that went into the mural, will preserve this underwater Not Even Once mural for years to come.
Hopefully, it will also inspire Campbell High School students, faculty and staff to create more murals on campus! We are grateful for the opportunity to paint at CHS. Everyone was so kind and friendly! We hope the mural will work on many levels for all. Ares
