For many years, ETHS has thrived in the arts. Ranging from various creative outlets such as acting, singing, performing and painting, our school has excelled in creating an environment for artistic expression. Walking around ETHS, you may notice several murals across the school. Art classes develop, plan and exhibit murals around various wings of the school.
Artist Jesse Cardenas-Trejo created three pieces for a few of their art teachers during their time at ETHS. “Murals were such a big part of my high school career,” Cardenas-Trejo says. “One of my philosophies was that white walls in the arts wing should be used to display student art, and that I wanted to paint all the blank walls around me in color.”
Cardenas-Trejo first started creating murals during their time at Nichols Middle School. They painted many around the school, and even after they graduated, they continued.
Following their time at Nichols, Cardenas-Trejo painted mostly in their art teachers’ classrooms. The first mural they painted at ETHS was a sign in A133, welcoming their fellow art students to the classroom.
The next piece they painted is in Ms. Clark’s room, A131, which was inspired by Clark’s honeymoon in Japan. Clark’s experience influenced Cardenas-Trejo to hide many symbols in the painting that harbored Japanese culture.
“The flowers featured on the mural, starting from the top left, are peonies with a plain blue tanzaku, maple, chrysanthemums, and plum blossoms. I also used some circle patterns called seigaiha in the background to tie all the flowers together with the environment. The flowing water carries the movement throughout the mural like a wave, with the hands reaching out from the flowers trying to grab on to something,” explains Cardenas-Trejo.
The completion of this mural took around two months, after working tirelessly before and after school, as well as during their lunch blocks. The experience was, “…a great feat, and I enjoyed every second of it,” remarks Cardenas-Trejo, looking back.
The last mural they created at ETHS is in A231, Ms. Seibold’s room. “I wanted this mural to be my farewell gift to the school, so it features some cartoon characters that I created early on freshman year in my first comic,” Cardenas-Trejo says.
Although their time painting high school murals is over, Cardenas-Trejo continues to create murals and is now out of college and starting a job as a Visual Specialist. Look out for more murals and paintings by them, as their art career is, by far, not over yet.
