Edison Excessive honors pupil artist who left his mark with civil rights mural – Orange County Register

Logan Dunn, 17, wonders if his mural, which will grace a wall on his alma mater in Huntington Beach for years to come, will be made “too big a deal”.

Modesty aside, Edison High staff gathered with Dunn and his family for a reception on Wednesday June 30th to celebrate his achievement.

“I think it’s a bit of an exaggeration,” said Dunn, who graduated from Edison earlier this month. “But I’m still happy.”

Edison art teacher Jennie Roy-Atwood selected Dunn to paint the mural. And the entire upper school chose the topic.

“They were given four different topics to choose from, and the students overwhelmingly voted for the 1960s civil rights movement,” said Roy-Atwood.

• The mural that Edison High School graduate Logan Dunn painted in celebration of the 1960s civil rights movement in the hallway of the School of Social Studies on Wednesday June 30, 2021. The mural shows Thurgood Marshall, a bus passenger, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King Jr., lower left (photo by Michael Fernandez, contributing photographer)

• Edison High School graduate Logan Dunn and his art teacher Jennie Atwood stand next to the mural he painted to celebrate the civil rights movement of the 1960s in the corridor of the Social Studies School on Wednesday June 30, 2021. The mural features, lower left, Thurgood Marshall, a bus passenger, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and Martin Luther King Jr. (Photo by Michael Fernandez, contributing photographer)

• Edison High School graduate Logan Dunn stands next to the mural he painted to celebrate the 1960s civil rights movement in the hallway of the School of Social Studies on Wednesday June 30, 2021. The mural shows Thurgood Marshall, a bus passenger, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. (photo by Michael Fernandez, contributing photographer) on the lower left

• Edison High School graduate Logan Dunn stands next to the mural he painted to celebrate the 1960s civil rights movement in the hallway of the School of Social Studies on Wednesday June 30, 2021. The mural shows Thurgood Marshall, a bus passenger, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. (photo by Michael Fernandez, contributing photographer) on the lower left

• Edison High School graduate Logan Dunn stands next to the mural he painted to celebrate the 1960s civil rights movement in the hallway of the School of Social Studies on Wednesday June 30, 2021. The mural shows Thurgood Marshall, a bus passenger, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. (photo by Michael Fernandez, contributing photographer) on the lower left

This is the tenth mural under the auspices of Roy-Atwood. “It has become a tradition,” she said. “We painted murals in hallways outside of the Art, Science, Foreign Language, and English classes. We have worked our way to social studies. “

Dunn designed the mural himself and decided who and what colors to use. He ended up on Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, and Thurgood Marshall.

“I thought civil rights was a good subject this year after George Floyd and everything that happened,” said Dunn. “It’s still fresh in people’s minds. Aside from being cool art, hopefully the mural will introduce students to civil rights leaders. ”

The young artist spent a few hours a day sanding and priming the wall for the mural, which is seven feet tall, for about five weeks. After looking at photos to sketch his motifs on paper, he plunged straight into it without first mapping the huge canvas in grids.

“I played around to find a good composition,” said Dunn. “And then I eyed it.”

Dunn plans to earn a four year degree in arts and begin this journey at Orange Coast College.

“He has a passion and a gift,” said Roy-Atwood.

As for any formal performance related duties, Dunn humbly stated that he is “glad to be getting it out of the way”.

“I’m more focused on where I’m going in the future than what I did in high school,” he said. “Still, it’s really cool to leave my mark.”