PUTTING THE COOL IN SCHOOL

This article was published in the July 25, 2026 issue.

What began as an idea to mentor student artists has left Mammoth High School with its first large-scale outdoor mural and may become a model for similar projects across Mono County.

The mural, completed in June by local illustrator Dave Titus and six Mammoth High students, stands near the school’s entrance across from the multipurpose room. It depicts three huskies standing in front of Mammoth Mountain with a sprawling sunset behind it.

The artwork came together after school over several weeks this past spring, with students helping shape the design and paint every stage of the project.

For Titus, the project was a chance to combine two longtime interests. After decades as a freelance illustrator and years coaching youth baseball, he wanted to create an opportunity for students to learn from a working artist while leaving something lasting behind.

“I had this idea of mentoring students to paint a mural,” Titus said.

Titus serves on the Mono County Board of Education, and he proposed the project during a discussion about expanding arts opportunities for students. The mural happened to “totally satisfy” the county’s strategic arts plan, adopted in 2024, which encourages partnerships between schools and local artists, and that helped fund the materials for the project.

With the project approved, MHS art teacher Heather O’Leary posted flyers around the school advertising the opportunity, and, in April, the group met weekly after school to brainstorm ideas.

Students wanted the mural to feel unmistakably Mammoth, so they centered it on Mammoth Mountain. Titus initially imagined a dog sled, but the students reworked the concept into three huskies representing Mammoth’s elementary, middle and high schools.

“We kind of collaborated,” O’Leary said. “Dave pulled those ideas together.”

Once the design was finalized, students prepared the wall before Titus projected the design onto the building one evening so it could be traced. From there, they mixed dozens of custom paint colors and translated the small illustration onto the much larger wall.

Some of the students, who were mostly underclassmen, already knew one another through O’Leary’s graphic design class or track, while others met through the project.

“They just all really got along super well,” O’Leary said. “They were goofy and always listening to music.”

As the weeks went on, O’Leary said the students became increasingly independent.

“The first day I went out to paint, the girls were showing me what to do,” she said. “They were kind of explaining how the color system works. It was really cool.”

Titus said watching students grow more confident was one of the most rewarding parts of the project.

“I think right now, after going through all that, they could go paint a mural just like we did on their own if they wanted,” he said.

The project also reflects a shift in Titus’ own career. After working for decades as a commercial illustrator with clients including Disney and Target, he said advances in artificial intelligence have reduced demand for some illustration work. In recent years he has returned to mural painting, something he first enjoyed as a teenager.

“I’ve really been enjoying being outside, working away from the desktop,” he said.

Both Titus and O’Leary hope the mural is only the beginning.

Titus wants to bring similar mentorship projects to schools throughout Mono County, including Bridgeport, Coleville and other communities. Rather than leading every project himself, he hopes more local artists will eventually become mentors.

“It doesn’t have to be just me,” he said. “The goal is to engage more artists, more students and see what more we can do.”

O’Leary said she also hopes the project encourages more public art in Mammoth.

“If you go to other towns, there’s murals everywhere,” she said. “It’s just so colorful. I would hope maybe this will spark some interest and maybe we could get some more up in town.”

She said many of the student murals that once decorated Mammoth High disappeared during renovations, leaving the campus feeling “very sterile and boring.” The new mural, she said, is a reminder of what student artwork can contribute to a school.

The mural was completed shortly after the end of the school year and later sealed with a UV-protective coating. 

A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for mid-August, where Titus said the students who helped create the mural will sign it together.