Since the Great Construction Era ended at Tualatin High School, most everything is back to working order: the main office has been relocated, there are actual locker rooms and the parking lot is open for business. 

What unfortunately remains unchanged since the start of construction is the irregular clutter of chairs, desks and equipment that mysteriously appears and disappears from the hallway where the athletic office previously was. Although this is distracting and rather unattractive, a recent addition to the hallway makes up for it: the bright and captivating mural in the new security office.

In the process of making the former athletic office into a space for Tualatin’s beloved security team, junior Jadon Allen was commissioned for the art. 

“I’ve loved making art since the 5th grade, and around 8th grade, I was on Instagram and I discovered these kinds of artists,” said Allen. 

He specifically mentions one of his inspirations, Takashi Murakami, a Japanese contemporary artist. 

“I’m just really involved in street art. I get a lot of my inspiration from that.” 

Allen spent a total of 8 hours creating his work, not including his time spent drawing multiple drafts, switching color schemes and communicating with administrators. “The colors originally were going to be purple and yellow,” he said, “but I picked a color that I thought would be more suiting, with red for Tualatin.” 

And Tualatin High School can’t thank him enough for his contribution to making it a more colorful place.