Topeka High School "Western Plaza"

Topeka High's "Western Plaza" has become an important gathering place for students of Topeka High in recent decades. In recent years, the school has undertaken several beautification projects, including the creation of four murals by Topeka High School student Alessandra Chavez in 2018. The murals were funded by nine alumni who attended the school from 1941 to 1961.

Topeka High School has always taken pride in its fine arts programs. One example of this pride is seen in the murals on the Western Plaza wall.

The wall by the plaza (and the West entry to the building) is decorated with murals, four 4-by-7 ft panels, painted in 2018 by THS student Alessandra Chavez during the second semester of her senior year. The murals were created as part of a beautification project ignited by nine siblings of the Barrett Family who each graduated from Topeka High from 1941 to 1961. They funded the project as a way to give back to the school, an institution they each felt contributed to the success of their lives. The project was dedicated to their parents, William and Myrtle Barrett.

The four murals are supposed to portray the different sides of THS life, as interpreted by Chavez. Chavez states that the core themes of her series of murals were architecture, diversity, acceptance, tradition, and creativity. 

• The first panel depicts the school's most notable architectural part, its iconic bell tower.  
• The second panel depicts average modern-day THS students wearing traditional Trojan helmets.
• The third panel depicts a sunflower sunset with several different school supplies as a reference to the school’s yearbook, The Sunflower.
• The fourth panel depicts the school yet another iconic piece of the school, its cafeteria chandeliers melting into the different desks and chairs which can be spotted around the school.

Wirestone, Max. Topeka High School student-designed murals honor diversity, acceptance, architecture, Topeka Capital-Journal. May 10th, 2018. Accessed April 24th, 2023. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/education/2018/05/10/topeka-high-school-student-designed-murals-honor-diversity-acceptance-architecture/12267222007/.

THS Historical Society/Alumni Association. The Barrett Family gives Topeka High a beautiful plaza, TOPEKA HIGH HISTORICAL SOCIETY: News from the Paul Fink Room. June 2018. Accessed April 24th, 2023. http://www.thshistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Vol.37-No.2.pdf.