Saint Oscar Romero Social Justice Mural

To commemorate the beatification of our namesake, Archbishop Romero as Saint Oscar Romero, our students will be creating a wall mural for the school highlighting the brave actions of Romero in El Salvador to fight against repression and empower the poor with education and knowledge of their rights. This will act as a calling to entire school community to work together locally, nationally and globally to actively participate in actions to fight injustice and poverty.

Update (May 17, 2019)

In commemoration of the canonization of our namesake, Archbishop Romero as Saint, on October 14, 2018 the students of St. Oscar Romero Catholic Secondary School worked diligently to collaboratively design and paint a mural to permanently grace the front entrance of the school capturing the fight to end social injustices that St. Oscar stood for in his native El Salvador and act as a daily inspiration to us all to act in a similar fashion any time we bear witness to injustices locally, nationally and internationally.

Update (June 26, 2019)

"Having a keen desire to get into OCAD, I was very excited when Mr. Neil asked if I would like to participate in the mural project. I have only had some experience working on large, public mural projects before but after he brought our class to Graffiti Alley downtown and then to the historic murals of Islington Village, I realized the power, large public art installations can have on an individual's and collective community's feelings. I felt expired and honoured. I had the opportunity to take the lead on the project which was excited because I got to teach my friends how to paint since some of them were too scared to try; afraid they would 'screw it up'. It was fun. In the end, I am very proud of what we were able to create and that everyday, everyone who enters our school is inspired by our work and learn about what St. Oscar Romero did for the poor." - Carly (student)

"I have been painting for a long time now but I have never painted on a large project with other people. I typically don't show my work to others. I've always been a bit shy and don't feel like my work is ever really good enough. This project helped me realize that art can be a powerful medium for change. I'll be honest, I never really knew who St. Oscar Romero was before this project but I now know how important a person he was to the people of El Salvador. Having his image and a description of what he did featured at the front of our school will help people to know his story but also, I feel, will hopefully inspire them to act towards others the way he did for the oppressed of his country."
-Patria (student)

"I am not an artist. I couldn't believe Mr. Neil asked me to help. Immediately, I said no but when I saw how important the project was to our school and that Carly made the design like a paint-by-number so that I could easily help without ruining everything, I decided to help. I had a lot of fun working on the project and feel good know that together many of my friends helped to make this together. This will be something that many people will see for many, many years to come and hopefully one day I can bring my future kids to come see! That's pretty special knowing that this work will be able to inspire many generations of people to live the way Romero taught us."
-Jay (student)

Update (June 26, 2019)

"Having a keen desire to get into OCAD, I was very excited when Mr. Neil asked if I would like to participate in the mural project. I have only had some experience working on large, public mural projects before but after he brought our class to Graffiti Alley downtown and then to the historic murals of Islington Village, I realized the power, large public art installations can have on an individual's and collective community's feelings. I felt expired and honoured. I had the opportunity to take the lead on the project which was excited because I got to teach my friends how to paint since some of them were too scared to try; afraid they would 'screw it up'. It was fun. In the end, I am very proud of what we were able to create and that everyday, everyone who enters our school is inspired by our work and learn about what St. Oscar Romero did for the poor." - Carly (student)

"I have been painting for a long time now but I have never painted on a large project with other people. I typically don't show my work to others. I've always been a bit shy and don't feel like my work is ever really good enough. This project helped me realize that art can be a powerful medium for change. I'll be honest, I never really knew who St. Oscar Romero was before this project but I now know how important a person he was to the people of El Salvador. Having his image and a description of what he did featured at the front of our school will help people to know his story but also, I feel, will hopefully inspire them to act towards others the way he did for the oppressed of his country."
-Patria (student)

"I am not an artist. I couldn't believe Mr. Neil asked me to help. Immediately, I said no but when I saw how important the project was to our school and that Carly made the design like a paint-by-number so that I could easily help without ruining everything, I decided to help. I had a lot of fun working on the project and feel good know that together many of my friends helped to make this together. This will be something that many people will see for many, many years to come and hopefully one day I can bring my future kids to come see! That's pretty special knowing that this work will be able to inspire many generations of people to live the way Romero taught us."
-Jay (student)