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It’s been in the works since the fall of 2023, before the Lynch School even broke ground on the construction of a new building. But on Nov. 7, a new mural for the school was finally unveiled.
“We approved it in 2023,” said Maggie Vande Vrede, executive director of the Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence (WFEE). “But we had to wait for the new mural until the school was built.”
This is the third mural for Lynch, which already has a mosaic mural and a reproduction of a larger mural that is currently located in the cafeteria. The original was unable to be fit into the new building.
The students and staff of the Lynch Elementary School turned out for the Nov. 7 unveiling of the 12 panels that will make up the new mural for the building. COURTESY PHOTOS/MAGGIE VANDE VREDE
The $8,000 grant paid for the services of artist Bren Bataclan, a Massachusetts artists who has done dozens of murals across the state and country. He spent two weeks at the school for the mural, which consists of 12 panels featuring Bataclan’s characters and dozens of others inspired from student ideas and drawings.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” Vande Vrede said, of the mural. “I came to an assembly and every child was completely silent. They were listening to [Bataclan] and drawing. There was just a sea of kids drawing. They were very into it because this is something for their new school and they are a part of it.”
Left, The former mural at the Lynch School in 2023 as the building closed for demolition. Center, Because the mural was too large for the new building, a digital reproduction was made and placed in the cafeteria. Right, The school also has a mosaic mural in its entry way, featuring Bumpy the turtle. COURTESY PHOTO/MAGGIE VANDE VREDE, LEFT, AND WINCHESTER NEWS STAFF PHOTOS/NELL ESCOBAR COAKLEY, CENTER AND RIGHT
The day before the unveiling, Bataclan is finishing up the final mural panels. It’s been a hectic two weeks and he is relieved to be at the finish line.
“This project has the most canvases I have painted in one residency,” Bataclan said. “I gave four assemblies and taught the kids how to draw my characters. Then I had to power through hundreds of pages of art. This is all really based on the student drawings.”
The canvases are bright, primary colors and also feature the school’s colors: blue and gold. But, if you look closely, you will find a bit of Bataclan in there, too.
“Well, 15 is my favorite number,” he said, laughing. “If you look at each canvas, there is something in there that is 15-related.”
The new Lynch School mural panels await hanging in the entryway of the building. There are 12 panels, all inspired by drawings from students and staff. WINCHESTER NEWS STAFF PHOTOS/NELL ESCOBAR COAKLEY
Bataclan, a former college professor of computer graphics, has been painting murals since 2000 when the economy gave out on the dot.com industry. Three years later, he was painting.
“I was participating in the Cambridge Open Studios,” he said. “I painted my characters and about 56 paintings. I sold 49 of the 56.”
But that wasn’t all. Bataclan has been painting and then randomly leaving his works in different places around the Boston area. That’s right, he gives them away for free.
“I’ve given away about 4,000 paintings,” he said, with a shrug. “I leave them out on benches with a note and people can take them or leave them for other people.”
This past year, Bataclan traveled to Africa, where he spread the free painting project to countries like Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. In a few months, he heads off to the Galapagos to continue the mission.
“I have no idea when it happened, but I call it a project of kindness,” he said, of why he gives away his art. “When I was an undergrad, I didn’t want to paint. I just wanted to work with a computer to create art. But now, I swapped it and I feel really good about it. I’m AI safe right now.”
Mostly, Bataclan does murals — between 300-400 a year. Most of them are in Massachusetts, but he’s been commissioned for out-of-state projects, as well. He said many times, schools ask him back for a second or third project.
Bataclan recently spent time in Arlington, where he painted a second mural at the Stratton School.
This is his first time in Winchester.
“It’s been great,” he said, of the experience. “It’s not just the kids, but the adults have had a chance to paint, too. Now they can say, ‘That’s my leaf up there!’ I feel the big love from everyone here.”
Before they were painted, artist Bren Bataclan had to put the panels together, like comic books. COURTESY PHOTOS/BREN BATACLAN
A quick tour of the paintings has Bataclan showing the different characters from student drawings he incorporated into the mural panels. He said the students’ imagination has really fueled the project.
“The kids ideas are better than mine,” he said, laughing. “They have included so many things. I asked this one kid to draw a representation of the world and he drew a globe with a bunch of hands coming out of it. That was what he thought the world should be. Things like that.”
With Winchester done, Bataclan was off to Auburn and then Marblehead. But he said he loved his time at the Lynch School.
“People have been so appreciative,” he said. “What I love about your school is that I feel nothing but love from the kids and the adults. They really cheered me on.”
