Mural Collection

Stevenson High School has a number of beautiful murals adorning the walls of its campus buildings. The murals represent works done by students and professional artists. Here is a description of murals around SHS:

Information and Learning Center

DOUG SMITHENRY: 
Interaction, 2012
Oil on canvas, 25' x 7'

In January 2012, several Adlai E. Stevenson High School students posed for this mural, which presents a positive affective model for interactions that occur in our Information and Learning Center (ILC). This Artist-in-Residency Mural Project was sponsored by the Patriot Parent Association (PPA) and the Stevenson High School Foundation.

Wood Commons

Beth Shadur, et al: 
We The People, 1994
Oil on canvas

"We The People" was created for the purpose of recognizing the significance and value of human and cultural diversity. The mural was designed by Irene Barsky, Elena Bastiani, Matt Beall, Tony Churchill, Darhil Crooks, Melissa Geils, Michelle Lauret, Judy Mang, Brian Mita and Traci Rusin. In addition, more than 200 art students helped to paint the mural, which was funded by the Riverwoods Residents Association. The project was developed under the guidance of professional muralist Beth Shadur.

Main Office Entrance

THOMAS MELVIN:
Seven panel panorama, 1995.
Oil on canvas

Each of the seven panels in Thomas Melvin’s work has linkage to the school, the community or Adlai E. Stevenson II, for whom the school is named.

The first panel depicts the train station in Prairie View in its earliest days, along with a ledger of train traffic.

The second panel shows a quill pen as a uniting element between rural and urban life.

The third panel, with its display of flags from around the world, represents the diverse cultures within the Stevenson community. The panel also echoes the flag-themed Wood Commons, where flags from countries around the world were installed around 1992 for an international student council conference. Finally, the third panel calls to mind Adlai E. Stevenson’s service to America as its ambassador to the United Nations.

The fourth panel represents elements of the Revolutionary War era: The candle for light, a map of the region, and a drum with an image of a Patriot.

The fifth panel focuses on Adlai E. Stevenson. To the right of his facial image is a shoe with a hole in its bottom. Stevenson became famous on the presidential campaign trail when he was photographed sitting on a platform in Grand Rapids, Michigan, one leg draped over the other with a hole showing prominently in his shoe. The hole in the shoe was used to project an image of a tireless campaigner. The globes are an allusion to globe lights that previously hung in the school’s main entrance but no longer exist.

The sixth panel literally takes a leap into the future. The country entered the space age and the computer age when Stevenson was at the heighth of his popularity.

The seventh panel provides a tranquil conclusion to the sequence, showing the branch of a Tamarack tree, which is indigenous to the area, and a Canadian goose, another local fixture. Prior to Adlai Stevenson’s death in July 1965, the inaugural District 125 Board of Education had planned to name the school Tamarack High School. However, Stevenson died about two months before the school opened its doors, and the board changed its mind.