The Truth Behind the Murals of BHS

If you roam around the halls of the Buffalo High School with your eyes not glued down to your phone, you might catch a glimpse of the paintings that decorate the halls of our school. Each one was created by either a student or a group of students.

While there has not be an updated mural in the last four years, multiple students have expressed the desire to leave their mark on the Bison hallways. Art teacher Jon Gunderson said that the process is more demanding than most people imagine. He’s supervised the creation of several of the murals currently lining the hallways.

Gunderson said that before anyone begins painting, the art piece needs to get approved by him. Most students will give up at that point, he said, not wanting to plan out their painting and instead just “go with the flow.”

If the student manages to create a plan and get it approved by Gunderson, the student needs to find time to paint.

“It takes about 100-500 hours of supervised painting outside of school hours,” Gunderson said. “They usually ask me to supervise them, and I say no, I’m going to my daughter’s game, not sitting and watching you paint.”

Most students say it’s too hard to find time since the school no longer allows people to paint murals for a senior study and has ended most independent study blocks. Art teachers are not paid to supervise artists after school.

If anyone finds the time, resources, supervision, and gets approval, they can paint a mural in our school.