SHS junior Sydnie Marshall has been given the opportunity of a lifetime: Create a mural that honors the METCO program at SHS. 

Marshall was first approached in January by Scituate’s METCO director Michelle Crawford with a proposal any young artist would appreciate: the chance to paint a mural. The guidelines for the project were extremely broad and provided her with extensive artistic freedom, which Marshall described as “a blessing and a curse.” In fact, the proposal was so open that she experienced mild fear going into it–unsure which direction to take the project. With a budget of $2000 and a partially developed idea, Marshall was blindly diving head-first into the biggest project of her career thus far. 

Marshall became more focused once she began sketching and studying her muse–muralist Mauricio Rameriez. Marshall explained the benefits of having a professional to look up to in terms of style–she discovered great inspiration in Rameriez’s simplistic approach to murals. She also sought assistance from professionals at Scituate High School: art teacher Julie Hickey guided her through this “nonlinear” process, as Marshall described it. Struggling to determine her next move in the painting process, Marshall expressed immense gratitude for the guidance Hickey provided her with overcoming “art blocks.” 

Although incredibly honored to be given the opportunity, Marshall said the process of painting the mural presented a plethora of unexpected obstacles. For starters, the time commitment was substantial–especially during the midst of AP exam season. Spending 5+ hours most Saturdays in addition to an abundance of afterschool hours, Marshall is pushing herself to complete the project before the end of the school year. Marshall said her lack of experience in mural painting has also contributed to her challenge. Remaining optimistic, Marshall described her inexperience as “not so much of a bad thing,” as it led to lots of helpful experimenting and trial and error. 

Perhaps the greatest challenge Marshall has faced throughout the last few months is dealing with her own perfectionism, commenting that the mural has to be “perfect” in her eyes to be satisfied with the result.