As an alumnus of Gilbert High School, I believe the CITYarts Peace Wall must be kept and preserved as a landmark.

What is it?

On April 25th, 2023, Gilbert High School’s students collaborated with CITYarts, a corporation based in New York, and artist Jamie Kough to participate in their 50 States of Peace project. In this project, CITYarts plans to create peace murals around all fifty states to create a sense of connection and advocate peace. Many cities are also involved in this project and represent their states with peace walls.

Why is it important?

Although the project was not done in a permissible matter, the peace wall has to stay on because it represents the need for unity, collaboration, and even a fight against the unjust times we deal with daily. The peace wall creates a sense of hope that a future will be better for everyone, a hope that no person will deal with torment due to their gender, beliefs, sexual orientation, skin color, race, culture, or anything else that can create negative stereotypes. Social justice for all is a human right that requires all humans to advocate for it, and the peace wall is a step in that direction.

How was it created?

Previous staff writers for the Gladiator Times wrote about the peace wall as it was being created and created as well. On May 4th, 2023, Joshua Perea-Diaz said in his article, “Gilbert High School Comes Together in the Name of Peace.” Joshua stated, “Last Tuesday, April 25th, 2023, a gathering of over forty of our Gilbert students and a handful of staff participated in an exhibition for peace. In partnership with the organization City Arts, our school community had a chance to create and judge works of art designed for a potential mural themed on the idea of peace.” This was the start of the project that had everyone in unity, as the mural was supposed to represent. In his article “Social Justice Association is a Club That Needs YOU!” Andrew Casiano stated, “Last year, the SoJA club members launched a peace movement to create a mural on campus and a petition to free Indigenous inmate Leonard Peltier. They hosted signings and wrote letters to the president asking for clemency for Peltier.” The project was still developing and coming into existence at this moment. They used the Leonard Peltier case to fight for justice, another symbol of the peace wall.

Overall, the CITYarts Peace Wall symbolizes the past, present, and future. It is a step toward equilibrium in social justice and a vision of hope for fighting against the constant injustices in our world. However, it is known that the Anaheim Union High School District is threatening to whitewash the Peace Wall, which eliminates months of work and collaboration and a symbol the present and the future can look up to. They believe the Peace Wall is only a piece of art that can be replaced with anything else. However, that is not true, and it is essential as a community to stand up against their false opinion. We must create a significant change in the world to make the best impact for us and the generations before and after us.

The CITYarts Peace Wall is not just a piece of art. It is a symbol of hope.

On November 14, 2024, Gilbert High School will be hosting a PEACE DAY event to officially dedicate a mural students have created on a public-facing campus wall. They call this their Peace Wall, and it was designed in collaboration with CITYarts and is the final work in a copywritten project called CITYarts “50 States of Peace”. It is expected to be a well-attended and highly publicized celebration, albeit tinged by a little controversy.