If you walk down the main hallway or the art hallway you may feel as if something is missing. Where did the murals go? Over fall break some murals were painted over adding a sense of empty space in the halls. But why? Does the school have something against Bob Marley? Maybe, but it’s more of our school has a thing against being fined or sued. Many of the paintings in our school infringe on copyright laws. If we were to keep them in our halls, we could be at risk of being fined thousands of dollars.
Approximately 12 murals have been or will be removed. These include the Tour of Duty, Jack Skellington, Scooby Doo and Shaggy, the Beatles, Hello Kitty, Elmo, the Marvel characters, and the anime characters in the English and Art hallway. Others include Bob Marley, Disney’s the Kid, Homer Simpson, Obi Wan Kenobi, and the Alice in Wonderland in the commons. “It hurts me because I know the time and effort.” Says Art teacher Linda Badtke. She said she understands why it has to be done. “They were here for so long, you kinda wish they could stay.” said Badtke. Even though many artworks have been painted over not all will be because of the 70 years rule. It’s not the professional term, but according to this “rule” once something like artwork or a writing is 70 years old it becomes public domain. That means, the Monet and other famous paintings (like the ones in the foreign language hallway) can stay. Two other paintings, the wicked witch from Snow White and the castle by the Counseling Center are allowed to stay but have to be modified.
The copyright rules will affect any further consideration of murals. It will just become another step of the process of painting a mural in the school.
The old murals won’t be forgotten. Principal Mike Trimberger as well as Badtke are planning on setting up a sort of dedication to the painted over creations. The silver lining is the removal of the old paintings creates room for new ones. “We won’t have murals stopped being painted here, that’s the thing I love about South.” said Badtke. Even though some of the murals are gone, there’s always more wall space for new ones.
Story/Photos by Brianna Fischer