On November 14, 2024, Gilbert High School will be hosting a PEACE DAY event to officially dedicate a mural students have created on a public-facing campus wall. They call this their Peace Wall, and it was designed in collaboration with CITYarts and is the final work in a copywritten project called CITYarts “50 States of Peace”. It is expected to be a well-attended and highly publicized celebration, albeit tinged by a little controversy.
On April 25th, 2023, Gilbert High School’s students showcased their “Pieces for Peace” art creations as part of their collaboration with CITYarts, a corporation based in New York. Muralist, Jamie Kough, joined to take the project to the next level to participate in the CITYarts “50 States of Peace” project. In this project, CITYarts – founded and directed by CEO Tsipi Ben-Haim – guides and consults students in a discussion about peace. The root question is, “What does peace look like to you?” The goal is to create peace murals around all fifty states to create a sense of connection and advocate for world peace. Gilbert High School’s peace mural is the second installation in what is intended to be a complete national exhibit of 50 murals themed in peace.
Apparently, the proper authorities were left out of the equation and permissions were not secured in a timely or customary matter. This has posed a challenge for all involve, and some staff and students are worried the mural will be only temporary. This presents a new question, “How will the peace wall be saved?”
Students in ethnic studies have been discussing reasons the peace wall should say. Some arguments include the idea that the wall represents the need for unity, collaboration, and even a fight against the unjust times we deal with daily. The peace wall creates a sense of hope that a future will be better for everyone, a hope that no person will deal with torment due to their gender, beliefs, sexual orientation, skin color, race, culture, or anything else that can create negative stereotypes. Social justice for all is a human right that requires all humans to advocate for it, and the peace wall is a step in that direction.
Gilbert High School’s Principal, Mr. Jose Lara, throws his full support behind the mural and has approved the upcoming celebration. Several staff members are also taking on roles on the planning committee to help prepare to celebrate the mural. All staff and students of the 2024-2025 school year have been invited to join the peace movement that started back in the fall of 2022 in Ms. Frese’s class.
As the leading campus advocate for peace, Ms. Frese was sought out by the online news source, Canvas Rebel, for an interview. In their online article, Ms. Frese discussed her experience with her students and the origins of this significant project. She stated, “The most meaningful project I have worked on is the CITYarts mural at Gilbert High School in Anaheim. In my 35 years as a public school educator, I have enjoyed working on all kinds of creative endeavors, leading civic engagement activities, participating in innovative opportunities to bolster student achievement and raise awareness for important causes, but it is the CITYarts Peace Wall that has made a deep and lasting impact on me and the students who participated in this amazing and most important creation that is a part of the CITYarts 50 States of Peace initiative.”
Previous staff writers for the Gladiator Times wrote about the peace wall as it was also being created. On May 4th, 2023, Joshua Perea-Diaz said in his article, “Gilbert High School Comes Together in the Name of Peace, ” and explained that a gathering of over forty Gilbert students and staff participated in an exhibition for peace. The school formed a community within a community and had a chance to create and judge works of art designed for (what would become) the mural themed on the idea of peace. This was the start of the project that had everyone in unity, as the mural was supposed to represent.
In his article, “Social Justice Association is a Club That Needs YOU!” Andrew Casiano stated, “Last year, the SoJA club members launched a peace movement to create a mural on campus and a petition to free Indigenous inmate Leonard Peltier. They hosted signings and wrote letters to the President asking for clemency for Peltier.” The project was still developing and coming into existence during that moment. They used the Leonard Peltier case to fight for justice, another symbol of the peace wall.
In conclusion (for now), it is clear that the Peace Wall is not a replaceable piece of art. It symbolizes hope for the future from the present, showing that social justice and togetherness are not only human rights but also necessities for human life. The Peace Wall is a step on the correct path that will eventually lead to peace among us.
As of this writing, there is still a lingering feeling that the AUHSD school district has a goal of removing the mural. They believe in whitewashing the mural and changing it to a “5 C’s” logo instead. They assume this would be more impactful than the work of past, future, and present students all coming together to be a part of changing the world as a whole.
However, the Peace Wall is not just a piece of art. It is a symbol of hope. To help fight for the wall, go to the commencement event on Thursday, November 14, after school. We also have a petition on Change.org https://www.change.org/p/preserve-the-cityarts-peace-wall-at-gilbert-high-school?recruiter=899079452&recruited_by_id=43430370-b570-11e8-9369-75d329b5195d&utm_source=share_petition&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard_share_modal&utm_medium=copylink to voice our opinions and fight against these unjust times. Together, we can keep the CITYarts Peace Wall for us and the future!