During the past few weeks, you might have noticed the emerging pictures appearing in the English hall. As if the ‘caution – wet paint’ signs were not enough, it is now clearly visible that the small white squares are slowly being filled by fluorescent colors; the gigantic dragon between two classroom doors is enough to get anyone’s attention. From “Harry Potter” to “The Catcher in the Rye,” there are many different classics quoted and illustrated that might just budge us closer to reading (or re-reading) the books that enriched our childhoods.

Placing his trust in various students, selected from a previous competition or members of the art club, Mr. Telio Gutierrez was the one to come up with the idea. Although he decided to start at the English hall exclusively, he plans on expanding the project to all of the hallways respective to their subject. As of right now, Mr. Costa plans on completing the first few drawings before starting brand-new ones in the science and math hallways.

“It is nice to have colorful images in the once bland hallways of the English department; the stories reflected on the walls are ones we already cherish—like the Harry Potter image—and are familiar with. [By] having the characters and quotes creatively displayed show that our school is strongly inclined towards learning,” freshman Lourdes Escobar.

Wondering how they selected the different classics? Different junior students asked teachers to choose their favorite books to put next to their doors—this is how the portraits of books like “Frankenstein’s Monster,” “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Flies” came to life. Other teachers chose the images based on what they were reading with their students this year: “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Catcher in The Rye” are two examples. Overall, however, all the teachers collaborated to pick what would go on their walls. Some teachers could not decide on what book to pick, so the students picked for them.

“To pick the books, Mr. Costa got us together to pick our favorite classics. I think it was a really great idea, and it represents the classic and diverse pieces of literature that we expose our students to,” language arts teacher Ms. Vazquezbello said.

Early in the year, students started with sketches on the walls to bring the books to life. In February, they started planning everything out for the halls; the nine IB juniors were supervised by Mr. Reich and Mr. Groff. The students plan on finishing later in the school year or next year because they plan on doing the entire English department—as of now they have only started on the main hallway.

So far, the paintings that the students have done depict the novels “Animal Farm,” “The Dragon of Medea,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “The Great Gatsby,” “Hamlet,” “Macbeth,” “A Wrinkle in Time,” “Frankenstein’s Monster,” “Harry Potter,” “The Lord of the Flies” and “The Catcher in the Rye.” The project has been a success at bringing interesting images to the usually bland walls of the school.