Utterback Magnet Middle School students were given a letter from principal Cindy Mady last Friday, Dec. 13, to let parents know that the dozens of murals painted throughout the school’s hallways “will no longer be present.”
Here’s a copy of the letter:
utterback_letter.pdf
“Utterback’s halls will be repainted, which means the mural art that has decorated these halls will no longer be present. In preparation for this painting upgrade, action is being taken to memorialize these pieces of Utterback’s culture. This week, members from the TUSD Magnet Office will be photographing the murals so they will be permanently remembered. These photographers will be collected into a portfolio and a slide show of the murals will be created.”
Will the new murals be painted in their place by current students? A Range source said it’s been discussed, but that each mural will have to go through an approval process. However, there’s a plan for those photos taken of the murals according to the principal’s letter, “eventually the photos of the murals will be framed and mounted and hanging in Utterback’s hallways. The slide show will be available for playing in our front on performance nights.”
Well, at least it’s good to know the school will still have performance nights for dance, choir and drama classes. So, part of the magnet plan isn’t only about figuring out how desegregation failed in TUSD’s magnet schools all these years, but it’s also about upgrading the schools, too? But keep in mind, Utterback is an arts magnet, which means it should be able to roll a little differently than other schools (the theater in the school is a district gem; it really is).
However, according to what our source told us, the letter sent out to parents on Friday is probably an approach to smooth out any potential protest from families and that what really occurred isn’t about the school needing a new coat of white paint, but that new TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez wasn’t too impressed with the artwork.
As a result, a crew came into the school last week and painted over some test areas on some of the smaller murals. When staff and students reacted negatively to the possible change, an online survey went out asking staff if they thought there was a mural worth saving or not. “The survey felt like a justification,” our source said.
Later in the week, during an assembly to explain to students what was going on, students reacted strongly—pounding their feet on the floor. Teachers, some of whom had talked to their students about what was going on, took heat for the failed and unruly assembly.
If the walls stay white for too long, several sources said to expect students to bring out the Sharpies.
The Range asked TUSD communications director Cara Rene for more info, and she responded:
The school is undergoing an upgrade and beautification project that includes that planting of trees and the new paint is part of the overall plan to freshen and brighten the school.
The student artwork on the walls at Utterback has been painted over several times during the past many years as it is not a permanent art mural, but a wall that had been made available for students to express themselves during the school year.
It was never meant as a permanent feature and does not have any historical significance — the current paintings have been created over the course of the past decade. Again, the space was provided as a place for expression and never intended to be a permanent feature of the school.
The school is documenting the current paintings for a slideshow so they can be remembered.
There are some mounted artworks at Utterback that are part of an art installation and those will remain
This article appears in Dec 19-25, 2013.
That’s not cool, Utterback Middle School saves a lot of history by their murals!, whoever is reading this, even if you are at this school or not, STAND UP!!!! don’t wait until it happens to do something about it, I was at the assembly and, of course I stand up agaisnt TUSD obviously I was furious, so I started putting up papers that said murals are history….. DON’T ERASE OUR HISTORY…… and so other, and they said they are not ignoring our voice well I think THAT IF THEY ARE ERASING OUR MURALS THEY ARE IGNORING OUR VOICE DON’T LET THAT HAPPEN TO YOU IN YOUR SCHOOL GO AHEAD AND STAND UP FOR IT. IF YOU DON’T DO IT THEN…… WHO IS? I am proudly a student at Utterback Middle School and I’m not scared of telling the truth to TUSD!!!!
What is the real issue behind this column? Is it the preservation of magnet schools in general? Is it the preservation of Utterback as an Arts Magnet school? Is it the continued use of desegregation funds to pay for who the heck knows what at Utterback and other so-called magnet schools? One reason the Ninth Circuit Court rejected Judge Bury’s first PUSP was TUSD’s bad faith in the way they misused desegregation funds and did not perform audits of those funds.)
There is no reason TUSD cannot continue the arts focus at Utterback that the local community…the students in particular…find so positive without using desegregation funds to do so. Obviously this magnet school has not been successful in integrating the school, and that is the express purpose of the desegregation funds. The real issue here has been the continued use of desegregation money to fund anything and everything TUSD leadership wants to fund without regard to whether it integrates TUSD schools or improves the academic performance of TUSD’s ethnic minority students.
They should paint it every year and teach the lesson of impermanence and the realization that making your mark isn’t a “do it once and rest on your laurels” thing. We weren’t painting the rywalls when I went to Utterback but we made our mark every chance we got with outstanding performances and art shows. It’s a painted wall, not the bastion of civilization.
Also, the “cover” photo doesn’t look like a mural as much as a taggers training ground. Make themed murals, there’s enough wall space that every first period class could have some space. Make your mark by celebrating THAT class, that moment. Then, at the end of the school year, document it and await the return of students for a NEW project. Every student would get two opportunities to make their mark.
No one likes change but you can always count on it. Learn this life lesson now and celebrate the opportunity for a fresh new canvas!
Utterback. The district, Dr. Sanchez, his entourage and the board should be concerned about more than the wall. They should be worried about the 70+ percent of Hispanic students and the rest of the minority students not getting what they need. What they need is a leader that actually likes students, and has better social skills and is not racist. The paint is minor compared to the other issues that are present. Deseg. dollars. So, what are they supposed to pay for? The majority of the population is Hispanic, yet the Mexican American department, which is paid out of deseg monies, has not one representative housed in Utterback. There is one front office staff that speaks Spanish. TUSD Board, Superintendent, Secondary Leadership and the Principal do not care about the students of Utterback. The walls will get painted and the Superintendent will move on.
im a student at utterback and no they said that they will not let us paint new paintings on the walla and the reason is cause the stupid ass super intendent said that there where cruse words in spanish on the wall and theres not at all