![“[Building nerf blasters] became this outlet of creativity for me that hasn't been matched by anything else. The process [of] making a build complete to your desire is such a painstakingly difficult process, but I've had to learn from [the skills needed from] soldering to proper painting. There's so many different options for everything, if you think about it, it exists. The best part is [that] if it doesn't exist, you can build it yourself," Ishaan Parate said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DSC_8149-900x604.jpg)
![“When I came into high school, I was ready to be a follower. But DECA was a game changer for me. It helped me overcome my fear of public speaking, and it's played such a major role in who I've become today. To be able to successfully lead a chapter of 150 students, an officer team and be one of the upperclassmen I once really admired is something I'm [really] proud of,” Anvitha Tummala ('21) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-25-at-9.50.05-AM-900x594.png)
![“I think getting up in the morning and having a sense of purpose [is exciting]. I think without a certain amount of drive, life is kind of obsolete and mundane, and I think having that every single day is what makes each day unique and kind of makes life exciting,” Neymika Jain (12) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Screen-Shot-2017-06-03-at-4.54.16-PM.png)
![“My slogan is ‘slow feet, don’t eat, and I’m hungry.’ You need to run fast to get where you are–you aren't going to get those championships if you aren't fast,” Angel Cervantes (12) said. “I want to do well in school on my tests and in track and win championships for my team. I live by that, [and] I can do that anywhere: in the classroom or on the field.”](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/DSC5146-900x601.jpg)
![“[Volleyball has] taught me how to fall correctly, and another thing it taught is that you don’t have to be the best at something to be good at it. If you just hit the ball in a smart way, then it still scores points and you’re good at it. You could be a background player and still make a much bigger impact on the team than you would think,” Anya Gert (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AnnaGert_JinTuan_HoHPhotoEdited-600x900.jpeg)
![“I'm not nearly there yet, but [my confidence has] definitely been getting better since I was pretty shy and timid coming into Harker my freshman year. I know that there's a lot of people that are really confident in what they do, and I really admire them. Everyone's so driven and that has really pushed me to kind of try to find my own place in high school and be more confident,” Alyssa Huang (’20) said.](https://harkeraquila.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/AlyssaHuang_EmilyChen_HoHPhoto-900x749.jpeg)
Pulse of the People: Where color and paintbrushes meet local issues
Art Club members stand behind their work after the completion of the “Love Not Hate” mural in Downtown Palo Alto on June 12. Club members painted the mural in support of the Stop AAPI movement and to show solidarity with the AAPI community.
If you were to walk down University Avenue in Downtown Palo Alto the summer afternoon of June 12, the streets would be filled with tables outside restaurants, families and many large canopy tents to block the sun’s powerful rays. A new discovery lies beneath each sheet of white canvas: a couple eating pasta at a small round table, a vendor selling handcrafted embroideries or some Harker students hard at work painting a mural on a k-rail.
Past this k-rail, a plastic barrier between street lanes, huddles a dozen students holding large buckets of paint, different sizes of brushes and miniature cardstock prints of the mural’s final design, all armed with ice cream cookie sandwiches to combat the sweltering summer air. Each has added a stroke or more of paint on Harker Art Club’s most recent endeavor, a mural inspiring love and positivity in light of the Stop AAPI Hate movement.
After an increase in hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population in the United States in March, the Stop AAPI Hate movement gained traction to rally for the AAPI community. Following the shooting at three Asian-owned massage parlors in Atlanta, nationwide and local communities have shown their support through media and protests for the movement.
Led by Art Club officers Michelle Liu (11) and Gloria Zhu (11), Art Club began the mural on June 11 and ended June 12. The finished painting features blocks of red and yellow and blue, with large letters spelling out “Love Not Hate.” Surrounding the letters are Chinese lanterns, fans and lotus flowers, inspired by traditional Asian culture. According to Michelle, Art Club hoped the direction of the mural would be uplifting and reflect the beauty of Asian culture to counter violence and hate.
“[To design the mural], we basically all got into a Zoom call, and we came up with a bunch of different motifs and symbols that we would want to put on there,” Gloria said. “The lanterns and the fans were because this was inspired by the recent AAPI hate crimes, and then the message ‘love not hate’ was based on that as well.”
After agreeing on an initial draft of the design and a location for the mural, Michelle reached out to the Palo Alto Public Art Committee, applying for a grant through the ArtLift Microgrant Program. The program funds 40 local artists with the intent to support the Palo Alto community artistically during the pandemic. With $1000 from the grant and the help of art teacher and Art Club adviser Pilar Aguero-Esparza, the work on the mural took off.
“[On June 11], Friday, Michelle and I came and primed the [k-rail], so we painted it white,” Gloria said. “Then we sketched on the design with pencil, and today we had members of the Art Club that were able to come paint in the lines that we drew.”
This isn’t the only mural that Art Club has done. Last year, they painted a mural for the Black Lives Matter movement, participating with other local groups to paint large block letters of “Black Lives Matter” in front of the Palo Alto City Hall. Working again with the Palo Alto Public Art Committee, Art Club wanted to take action and participated in this opportunity to spread the message of the movement through art.
“The public art program here at Palo Alto is very open to working with students,” Aguero-Esparza said. “[One exciting] thing about having worked with the Black Lives Matter mural last year, as well as this year is you see proposals by our local artists and artist teams, and then they select people and have everything happen quickly.”
Along with the “Love Not Hate” k-rail and “Black Lives Matter” mural, Art Club completed another mural yesterday after painting for a week in the courtyard of the Boccardo Reception Center. Part of HomeFirst Services, a local organization aiming to end homelessness, Boccardo Reception Center is the largest homeless shelter in Santa Clara county.
Aguero-Esparza first introduced the HomeFirst mural idea to the Honors Directed Portfolio class, whose four students spent the last semester designing and working on the project. With the help of Art Club members they completed painting the 6 feet by 40 feet wall. The mural uses bright colors to depict figures carrying fence planks with words such as “community,” “empathy” and “love” to build new houses.
Sydney Takemoto-Spraggins (‘21), who took the Honors Directed Portfolio class, explains the message the mural hopes to convey.
“Working with HomeFirst and using their idea of putting homeless people in sheltered housing [and] having emergency housing was a really good opportunity for the Honors Directed [Portfolio] class,” Sydney said. “I hope that this mural really provides strength and empowerment for people that live here.”
Both of these projects have allowed members of art classes and Art Club to work together. For first-year Art Club member Claire Su (9), the best part of painting the “Love Not Hate” mural was working with fellow student artists after a year apart.
“[My favorite part has been] just painting with everyone, just being with everyone together,” Claire said. “I don’t know everybody super well because I’m new, but it was fun getting to know people and talking to a couple of people.”
In the coming school year, Art Club will be open for new members to join, and current members are already planning to increase club visibility. They have future plans for merchandise and more schoolwide events such as painting a mural on the upper school campus later this year for the entire community to take part in. In the meantime, the “Love Not Hate” k-rail mural will be available for public viewing until September.
“We wanted to just spread a positive message in Palo Alto as everything is reopening, and when people come out, they can walk down the street and see our mural, and we hope that maybe it’ll just bring them a little bit of joy and also spread our message,” Michelle said. “[Our goal is] showcasing the different beautiful aspects of Asian culture and showcasing that you should love and not hate.”
For anyone interested in working with the Art Club on future projects, reach out to officers Gloria Zhu (11) at [email protected] and Michelle Liu (11) at [email protected].
Sally Zhu (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of Harker Aquila, and this is her fourth year on staff. This year, Sally wishes to interview more people around...
Michelle Liu (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of The Winged Post. She joined the journalism program in her sophomore year as a reporter and became the Winged...
Sally Zhu (12) is the co-editor-in-chief of Harker Aquila, and this is her fourth year on staff. This year, Sally wishes to interview more people around...