Joshua Teplitzky’s pottery class is currently working on a large life size mural of Picasso’s piece, Guernica. They are doing this in recognition of the pain and suffering in result of the bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil war. After the mural is finished, the students plan to post it in the gym or the cafeteria.

Seth Holcomb, a freshman at Smoky Hill has been taking pottery all year, and is helping with the piece.

“I love pottery, it’s truly a great class because I am able to sit here and be calm and just be able to mold clay into certain types of figures. To me the class itself is kind of like a stress reliever in a way.” Holcomb said.

Because the mural is life size, there is a lot of surface area to paint. Students have to paint one section at a time and they have to let one part dry before starting a new section.

“I’ve been working on painting one of the spots on the mural, and it is taking a really long time because it is life size.” Holcomb said.

A majority of students in the class have been coming in during their free time to work on this piece, and because of that they are developing deeper understandings of what Picasso’s piece really means, to themselves and in general.

“Guernica is a symbol of the war and all of the suffering and everything the spaniards had to deal with during this time. From what I’ve learned, Picasso painted this because he wanted to express his own feelings and pain that so many people felt during the bombing that took place. He painted this piece with the soldiers who fought and the innocent people who died in mind. I find this very meaningful.” Holcomb said.