Lynn Classical students display mural

LYNN – When the renovated and improved Classical High School is finally completed this fall, students will have a famous piece of artwork to compliment their cafeteria, thanks to a group of freshmen with an affinity for art.Students in the Classical Freshman Academy art history class have completed a replica mural of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica,” a work that teachers expect will be permanently hung in the school.The mural, first displayed Thursday night at Classical’s annual Night of Excellence, was the result of an interdisciplinary project led by art teacher Patty Klibansky and history teacher Toni Zavras. The project ties into both art and history in several areas and is also timely because March is Youth Arts Month.Picasso’s “Guernica” depicts the destruction of the Spanish city of the same name by Adolf Hitler and the German Nazi’s in 1937. The attack killed more than 1,000 people and Spanish rulers later commissioned Picaso to create a mural depicting the attack.The dark, dreary work includes horrific imagery, including a mother holding her dead child and victims of the attack wallowing in agony.The lesson ties in to what students were learning in both classes and allowed the teachers to take a slightly different approach to teaching, as they were able to feed off the information, materials and projects done in each class.”I have never seen them so excited,” said Zavras. “This is about combining the two disciplines, it is a rare opportunity for us to get to do this.”The teachers discussed the significance of the event itself as it relates to World War II and the significance of the mural, both in the art world and in politics.”There was a lot of discussion about how war happens and the communication of what is distributed through Picasso’s art,’ said Klibansky. “We had a lot of discussion about the painting and history both in class and after school.”The students stayed after school for three hours a day for three weeks leading up to the Night of Excellence and the teachers say the mural will be hung up in the school soon, most likely in the cafeteria.”It is so important to teach peace in our classrooms so that history doesn’t repeat itself,” said Zavras.