Stromberg creates collage in memory of old campus, alums

Art

Posted: March 3, 2020

Stromberg creates collage in memory of old campus, alums

Art teacher commemorates the lost school with a colorful mural made of school artifacts

“The whole idea behind the project was to try to find a way to honor the old buildings that were lost, but also celebrate the history of the school and provide, especially for alumni who come back, something that they can look at and remember their time,” said North Campus art teacher Nathan Stromberg.
One of the main points of the project, besides a memorial for the old campuses, is to give alumni something to look at and give them memories of the years in their building. Stromberg worked on the project for over five months and spent long hours perfecting his masterpiece.
“The entire thing, six views of the old buildings, are made up of little articles, bits about the teachers, photos, and memories so hopefully it will be very personal and super deep and something that people will stare at and get lost in for a long time,” said Stromberg.
During the process of making the project, Stromberg ran across difficulties with old yearbooks being black and white. However, he found a unique way to overcome those problems.
“The problem is that it’s a full-color piece, but a lot of the yearbooks are black and white,” said Stromberg. “The process I hit on during experimentation was to make large parts of the piece black and white and then add transparent colored ink over the top to tint the papers.”
Although the project may bring up some bad memories about the tragedy on August 2nd, its main message is to celebrate the school’s history and give people a way to look back on their years at Minnehaha.
“I think it’s about connection,” said Stromberg. “I don’t see it so much as a memorial to what was lost but rather a celebration of our history up to the explosion because I think that’s how our history will be looked at: before the explosion and after the explosion. This [project] is the culmination of everything before.”

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