Positivity was the main requirement Principal Michael Piccininni set when he commissioned a group of student artists to brighten up the bathrooms at Coronado High School in Henderson, Nevada. The creative juniors and seniors then painted their murals across the doors and partitions of the stalls in the nine widely-accessible student bathrooms.
“It had to be happy a vision—nothing dark or morbid,” Piccinini explains. “Because restrooms are where kids will go to hide if they’ve failed a test, or broken up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, or had a fight with their parents.”
Because the murals were created during COVID lockdown in 2020-21, the nine juniors and seniors needed permission from their parents to work alone in the school.
One student painted a “fairy theme” with dark blues, grays and purples. Another chose a psychedelic, 1970’s “Peace Frog” theme. A third student took their inspiration from punk music. Kids signed their names along with their graduating class.
The artists also got to choose the color for the rest of the bathrooms, which were repainted by building staff. The murals have now been covered with plexiglass for protection, although, Piccininni adds, there has been virtually zero vandalism despite various widespread social media challenges encouraging students around the country to try to steal sinks and do other damage.
“As that different atmosphere was created, kids were more respectful,” the principal says. “We created the idea that these are not just bathroom doors—it’s somebody’s artwork.”
Piccininni got the idea for the bathroom murals while the 3,500-student school, part of the sprawling Clark County School District, was closed for almost the entire year during the 2021-22 COVID lockdown. He was the only person allowed in the 400,000-square-foot building, which, he says, reminded him of the haunted Overlook Hotel in Stephen King’s classic horror story, The Shining.
“It was a very lifeless place,” he says. “This was something we did to try to create a different atmosphere for kids when they came back in person.”
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