There’s a new mural on the Lincoln patio, and its artists are the senior class of 2019-20. Walk out the main doors and you’ll be greeted with a mural featuring a diverse crowd of people putting out a burning planet. 

Senior David Lefevre, the main designer, originally came up with the idea in his 2D Design class as a statement on climate change. With help from leadership teacher Lisa Klein-Wolf and other seniors, what started as a stencil in class was brought to life as a patio mural.

Last year, the class of 2019 started the annual tradition of creating a mural to represent the graduating class. Klein-Wolf, hoping to strengthen this tradition, approached Lefevre to help her with the mural. From there, they advertised on social media and gathered a group of seniors to paint the patio over the course of one week in August. 

Lefevre’s original design focused solely on the state of the planet, but later evolved into a piece showcasing the efforts the world should put into combating climate change.

When asked about the inspiration behind the mural, Lefevre stated that “[climate change] is something that [he’s] definitely passionate about, and concerned about.” Ms. Klein-Wolf emphasized that students wanted a mural that “represented some of the core values of our Lincoln community.”

Lefevre also connected with the AVID class, who had a similar idea of a planet burning for the mural. Ms. Klein-Wolf then encouraged the crowd to work on the mural as a way of showing the necessity of the fight against climate change. 

Lefevre said that the goal of the mural is to “show the progress we [can] make [in order to fight for climate change] ”.

Lefevre recalled that “it was interesting to make the mural, and we tried to make it as inclusive as possible”. Senior ASB Co-President Anya Anand remembers “once we got started [on the mural] it was a lot of fun and it worked out really well.”

Lefevre  worked hard to represent the student body and reflect its diversity as best as possible in the piece, including various ages, skin tones, and abilities. The group ranged from two to ten students throughout the week, working first to clean the patio surface, then painting and finishing with a varnish.

Ms. Klein-Wolf details how “next summer, the Class of 2021 will have an opportunity to paint a mural alongside the one created by the Class of 2020.  There will be one large space remaining on the patio for the Class of 2022 to paint a final mural on the patio.” Anya Anand hopes that “in the years to come, lots of people will come and it will be a great big thing that happens before school starts.”