Malden High School, over the summer of 2023, has sprung up new art pieces across the school. From paintings within classrooms to colorful murals in the cafe, one stands out because it follows the schoolwide goal to “Thrive.” That mural was the brainchild of the admired art teacher Joseph Luongo, who collaborated on the idea with former MHS alumnus and current Rutgers University student Jadelini Mora.
When asked about the most difficult part of designing one of MHS's most impressive murals, Luongo stated that “it was the transferring the initial design onto the wall, not designing it itself. But once we solved that problem, and the outline was done, it was just a matter of physical work.”
To Luongo’s delight, everything went to plan, and he gave credit to the “collaborative design with [Mora].” The only things that changed were a few colors and adding symbols and small designs that seamlessly flowed within Malden High’s culture, which, unsurprisingly, was Luongo's favorite part.
Luongo laughed that the only regret he had did not even pertain to generating the concept of the mural but the physical challenge of painting it. He stated that “I think if there’s ever a next time, I’ll use scaffolding, because going up on a ladder close to ten feet above the floor, you must understand that people my age can sometimes lose their balance.”
