An old mural will see new life in Mason after two decades

Cettel received a $1,000 grant from Arts Connection, and Corbin came to Mason as an Artist in Residence for $500, funded by the grant. The project took well over a year, but was never fully completed.

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The mural was originally intended to hang at what is now Mason Middle School.

“Some panels were lost and some had water damage before they could be finished,” explained MHS Art Educator Tina Roberts. “When we moved to the new Mason High School building, the best panels were chosen to be hung.”

The mural panels have been hanging all this time without many people knowing or remembering the story behind the panels. Cettel retired in 2003 and Corbin passed away in 2009, but Roberts wanted to shine a new light on an old piece.

“Both Judi and Terry were inspirational to me in a number of ways as an artist and as a teacher, so I wanted to make sure that their project, and all that went into it, was not forgotten,” explained Roberts.

The project was more than just a fun activity for the art students. It connected many educational departments, such as Math, Science, English and Foreign Language.

On the mural itself, multiple departments, including teachers and students, were involved in its development. The math classes assisted with the shapes, the music department helped inspire the design with music, and all students and staff were invited to paint. The art students worked with Corbin to learn how to add fine details and blend the colors.

On the information panel, there were three students who worked with Cettel to tell the story, Jacob Kummer, Noah Bradford and Lauren Fournier. These three created the design and met with Cettel multiple times to sort through artifacts to put together a timeline of the project.

“This panel was created in the Studio class where students work on design projects for school and community members,” added Roberts. “It is an internship class, allowing students to create work that they are then able to see on t-shirts, posters and sometimes more permanent work, like this one.”