Alex Chang
Senior Ivan Sandler and his friends work on the mural depicting "SKO VIKES" after school. According to Sandler, he enjoys seeing his friends paint, work together and learn more about art. “It’s really fun to see my friends who have no idea about art or have never done anything like that be so crafty and collaborate in this project that means a lot to me," Sandler said.
A new mural reading “SKO VIKES” now covers the wall of the auto shop at Palo Alto High School, adding color and strengthening the sense of community on campus.
The Viking is Paly’s mascot and “SKO VIKES” is a shortened form of the school chant “Let’s go, Vikings.” Senior Ivan Sandler pushed for a mural project and his vision has finally come to life. According to Sandler, his summer abroad in Barcelona incited his idea to bring a mural to Paly.
“I studied a summer abroad in Barcelona and I met this mural artist there,” Sandler said. “He taught me how to spray paint and make murals, so I did a bunch of stuff in Barcelona with him. It was a lot of fun and it made me really interested in murals and I thought it would be cool to bring it to Paly. This one [mural] wasn’t with spray paint — it was with paint, but I thought it would be fun.”
Working closely with Principal Brent Kline, Sandler said he redesigned the school’s banner — reflecting the school’s slogan of “Learn, Connect, Respect” — prior to starting the mural project.
“That [banner logo] is what initially got me the position to be allowed to make the mural,” Sandler said. “That process went all the way into summer, which made it really difficult to do the mural that year, so when that was finally finished, they [the admin] finally gave me permission to make the mural, which is what I wanted to do in the beginning.”
According to Kline, seeing Sandler’s artwork for the banners gave him trust in letting him take on the mural.
“Ivan’s the one that created these banners, so working with him over the course of the last year, I was able to see his artwork,” Kline said. “He has a great portfolio of urban art and street art and he was interested in doing a mural. … It’s a great idea and he showed the sketch. There’s an approval process here for things like that and a team of teachers reviewed it and approved it.”
Sandler said the on-and-off rainy and inconsistent weather has been the toughest part of creating the mural.
“The weather has been really frustrating,” Sandler said. “I tried to start the mural when there was no rain, but it just kept on getting drawn out when there was surprise rain. The weather has just been really inconsistent, and it has been challenging to work around it. Luckily, it hasn’t caused too much damage, but that’s the biggest challenge.”
According to Kline, he hopes students see the mural as an inspiration for starting their own creative projects.
“I just hope they [students] see the cool artwork that has ‘SKO VIKES,” Kline said. “It’s kind of a model here and it should inspire people by seeing cool stuff like that.”
Sandler said he wants students to feel togetherness and connection when looking at the mural.
“I want people to feel a sense of community,” Sandler said. “The mural depicts four characters who are supposed to be students painting the mural, and the message behind that is collaboration and community within our school.”