The Latinos Unidos group is working on a new mural to take the place of Palo Alto High School alum James Franco’s artwork on the student center.
Amidst allegations of sexual misconduct against Franco, the district took down the actor’s mural on the Student Center and returned his art contributions previously displayed in the Media Arts Center. According to a statement from Interim Supt. Karen Hendricks, the district always planned for the art to be “temporary in nature” and “ returned or painted over at some point.”
Latinos Unidos is responsible for organizing the completion of a new mural. In an e ort to recognize and celebrate all cultures, the club brought in help from other groups such as the Black Student Union, SAMOSA Club, Social Justice Pathway and Paly alumni, according to Latinos Unidos president Ricardo Lombera.
“A really big thing that we want to see is that the people painting the mural are just as diverse as the people that are on the mural,” Lombera said. “We hope that this mural will celebrate the rich cultures of all the people that attend Paly.”
Although AP Art students will play a notable part in the execution of the mural, Lombera welcomes any students interested in participating to help paint the mural and can be contact- ed at [email protected].
Sketching was to begin on Feb. 19 for two weeks and painting will begin on March 5 and continue into spring break, when the club hopes to nish the mural.
“It’s really inspiring that a club has decided to do something like this,” senior AP Art student Hana Morita said. “It [the mural] is really meant to support people of all color, gender and sexuality, so I think this is a way of supporting the community and sort of a reaction to something that has a ected the community negatively.”