A long barrier wall runs along the eastern boundary of Paul Revere Middle School starting just off Allenford Street, paralleling Rockingham and ending short of where the campus intersects on Sunset. Mostly painted white, the wall also has locations where various prior painted murals are faded and peeling.
Now, they are being restored a paint stroke at a time by sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students in the after-school P.E.P. (Personal Enrichment Program). And students are also painting original student-designed work.
Palisadian Lori Vogel, who works at Revere as a community liaison and designed and maintains the Web site (paulreverems.com), teaches the class.
“I think that the last time that any work was done on this specific mural was in the 1980s,” Vogel told the Palisadian-Post. “I started this class last year because of the graffiti painted on the wall and also to teach students how to restore murals,” said Vogel, who in 2008 painted a colorful mural by the outdoor cafeteria tables that reminds students: “Reduce—Reuse—Recycle” and “One World, One Choice.”
Assistant principal Justin Koretz also encouraged Vogel to start the course. Two years ago, he observed her overseeing the painting of five murals selected in the “What’s Your Secret Hope and Wish for the World” art contest on a wall near the school farm. More than 60 volunteers from school and community participated under Vogel’s direction. Koretz told her, “You should consider doing a PEP class.”
The class is limited to 15 students, who learn how to restore murals and paint new ones.
Students are taught how to prep walls, which includes scraping and then brushing them; applying primer paint; drawing the design with charcoal pencils; painting; and cleaning brushes.
Last year the class repainted a large mural of the solar system, and this year they finished a mural with faceless children that proclaims SFTS (stand for the silent), which addresses the issue of bullying.
New mural drawings must first be approved by the school administration.
One old mural being restored is a landscape with snow-capped mountains in the background and poppies in the foreground. Vogel showed students how to shade the mountains to give them more texture—which wasn’t done on the original landscape.
Near the landscape, other students were painting a new mural of instruments in recognition of Revere’s award-winning music department.
“I did this last year when I was in sixth grade,” said Hannah Meger. “I’m doing it again because we have so many ideas about what to paint.”
“Painting is fun,” said sixth grader Jessie Bierschenk. “The hardest part is sitting in the sun.”
Sixth grader Meilani Wang said, “It’s my first time painting murals, but I might take this course again.”
Seventh grader Thatcher Schreiver was working on the keys on a clarinet. “He’s good with detail,” Vogel said.
“I brought my oboe here,” Schreiver said, “so I could make sure the drawing was exact.”
Students are charged $100 for the class, and the money is used mostly to pay for paint. Palisades residents who donate exterior paint help keep the class price down.
Vogel, who graduated from UCLA in 1984 with a degree in design, started her career working for a furniture design company before opening her own graphic design company in 1991.
She and her husband, Rob, an architect, have a son, James, and a daughter, Jacqui. Living in Venice, they entered and were accepted to Canyon School through the lottery. In 2000 they moved to the Marquez Knolls area and Marquez Elementary became their school.
Last year James graduated from Palisades High School and now attends Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in architecture. Jacqui attends PaliHi.
Vogel volunteered at school events for 15 years, serving as the Revere Booster Club president. “That was my job,” said Vogel, who now works in the Revere office. Her new students might argue, saying teaching painting is her real calling.
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