Students create a fourth mural at Westminster High, the only California school awarded a special arts grant from Vans

Westminster High is transforming into an art gallery, one mural at a time.

Over the past week, as more than 100 students took paint brushes to a wall along an outdoor corridor, the school’s fourth masterpiece came to life.

The latest installment features a surreal garden of flowers with vinyl records and eyes at their centers, butterflies bursting from books and a tulip blossoming into a gramophone.

On Friday, May 24, a handful of teens put the finishing touches on the mural.

“Art is usually an individual thing that you do by yourself,” noted Mary Harris, a junior. “It’s fun to work collaboratively with other artists.”

Art instructor Daina Anderson said most of her students took turns at the start.

“As we fill in the larger spaces and the work becomes more detailed, we rely on the most skilled artists,” she explained.

Shoe manufacturer Vans partnered with the nonprofit Americans for the Arts to select 10 schools nationwide for grants this year. Westminster High is the only school in California to receive the honor – a $2,000 grant.

The program pays a professional artist to design a mural and see it through.

“The idea is that students usually study artists who are no longer living,” Anderson said. “Contemporary artists can serve as mentors.”

Westminster used its windfall to hire Ventura illustrator Tory Elena, who specializes in album covers – thus, the mural’s emphasis on music. Students chose the theme “inspiration” for Elena to convey in a picture.

“My goal was to create something that would spark students’ curiosity as they walk by,” Elena said. “Curiosity leads to inspiration.”

To start the mural on May 19, Elena projected an outline of her image on the wall for student volunteers to trace. “Everything went smoothly,” she said. “They did a great job.”

Anderson was the force behind the latest installation, just as she led the way on the first three. Those, however, received their funding from other sources. Focusing on multiculturalism, Anderson invited artists from South Korea, Spain and Canada to compose the previous murals.

Michelle Lee Vu, a senior, has played a role in three of the four murals. “This is my favorite one,” she said. “It feels the most complete.”

This spring, students with severe special needs participated, too. “It gives them an opportunity to spend time with the general-population kids,” said their teacher, Leah Guillen.

John Bennett, an assistant principal, said the murals “help students take pride in their campus.”

“The murals give everyone a sense that we care about our school,” Bennett said.

That sentiment is reflected in the fact the artwork has survived years without vandalism.

“No one has ever ever tagged one of our murals, not once,” Anderson said.

Eleventh-grade artist Daniel Le offered his own take on the mural he helped realize this week: “We have created a sacred space.”