Seniors paint Serrania Elementary School mural

Seniors Shaya Barzilai and Sasha Rybkina finished painting a mural at Serrania Elementary School in June 2017, inaugurating what they dubbed “The Mural Movement.”

According to Rybkina, the work the seniors completed reflected their shared desire to give back to the community through art.

“Me and Sasha both are very passionate about art and we both like working with kids so we decided to combine them,” Barzilai said. “[We] go and have a conversation with the kids and work with the kids and then translate their thoughts into art, and then we translate their art into a design onto a mural.”

Both students lived near the elementary school; Rybkina previously attended Serrania.

“This school was where I went and I have always been inspired by the various murals the school presented,” Rybkina wrote to the Talon. “It was an honor to add my own art to their walls.”

The two began work on the mural in April 2017, contacting Serrania Elementary School principal Luis Alvarado about their plan.

“We told him our idea, and we didn’t think he would reply so soon,” Barzilai said. “We were already ready for the project to be denied because it was a big thing to ask from the school to allow two juniors entering senior year to draw a mural on the wall.”

Alvarado scheduled a meeting with the duo to allow them to further explain their project.

“We met up with him at the school and we made an [informational pamphlet] about our idea and what we planned to do and the [materials], explaining the whole project on paper,” Barzilai said.

Barzilai and Rybkina held a discussion with a group of third through fifth grade Serrania students to allow the students to present their view of social issues. According to Rybkina, the most prevalent issue the students raised was bullying and cyberbullying.

“To raise awareness against bullying, we decided to flip the topic and promote friendship,” Rybkina wrote. “The positive mural of two kids using teamwork to create a new world of color, inspires people to ‘be a friend’ and show care for all.”

The seniors painted the mural over the course of two weeks in June after school ended at Serrania, and summer break began.

“To do all this, it was a lot. After it was done, we were so proud that we actually accomplished this,” Barzilai said.

The pair plans on undertaking similar projects in the future. In addition, they have contacted Alvarado with regards to regularly conducting discussions with students similar to those held in the initial planning of the project.

“I think this inspired the kids to think deeper and understand more about the world that’s outside the classroom,” Rybkina wrote. “I plan to give this project to an underclassman who can continue the movement and promote a new idea through their art.”