By Randi Burdette
If you walk past the Hamilton High School library, you can’t help but notice a new addition to the wall. A tile mural created by junior Max Mignot now faces the streams of high schoolers and visitors walking the halls of the high school. The mural, which reads “Read” next to a shelf of books, is Max’s Eagle Scout project.
Originally the mural was going to be placed along the outside wall of the Hamilton Public Library to reduce graffiti.
“With tile if you put sharpie or paint on it you can just wash it off,” says Mignot. However, when the library was not able to host the wall, Max decided to find another spot for his mural, eventually landing on the outside of the Hamilton High School library. Mignot wanted to partner with a library because he wanted to maintain the message of the importance of reading. And with its message inviting onlookers to pick up a book, it’s quite appropriate.
After collecting the materials and supplies he needed for the mural, Mignot said it took two four-hour days to complete and install the project on the wall outside the high school library. While the idea and conception of the project was Mignot’s own, he is grateful and appreciative for the help from his mother, Nan, and his Boy Scout troop. Max is very proud of his completed project.
Having just turned seventeen, Mignot is beginning to look at colleges and other schools. However, reading will always be near and dear to his heart.
“I enjoy reading, and I wanted to encourage reading in the younger generations,” says Mignot. Mignot wanted his project to maintain an artistic feel and felt that a tile mural would add to the aesthetic of Hamilton.