By Eli Heart PZ ’26

If you, like me, have spent a considerable amount of time appreciating the murals that surround our beautiful campus, you may wonder which was the first mural, why it was made, and how the mural-making culture at Pitzer College began. In this series, I will document murals on campus in no particular order to provide the student body with more information about the artists and meanings behind our public art.

To kick off the series, it made sense to go chronologically. Unfortunately, in my search, I found that the first Pitzer mural no longer exists; however, you can still see it today in all its glory on Pitzer’s campus.

How is this possible? In 1973, Peruvian artist Yando Rios and a group of students painted the college’s first mural atop Avery Hall, often called “Serpent Mural.” Yet, not long after, the artwork was painted over. Why? Nobody knows!

Still, Serpent Mural left a lasting impression on the student body. Although Rios’ initial mural did not last long, its spirit did. A few years later, Los Angeles muralist Paul Botello taught a class on “Murals, World Wall Art.” In 1995, two art students, Aaron Rhodes and Darci Raphael, painted a large mural above the Mead Hall entrance, the oldest mural still standing, fittingly right in the heart of campus. The Mead mural inspired the wave of artwork created by other students along the walkway columns that line The Mounds.

Just two years later, in 1997, Pitzer welcomed Rios back to recreate Serpent Mural once again above Avery. With the help of a new generation of students, Rios developed what The Claremont Colleges Digital Library referred to as a “classic apprentice/master relationship.”

Unfortunately, the roof is off-limits for students, making it difficult to actually see the mural.

Still, despite being tucked away on top of Avery, the mural is alive and well for all to see, that is, if you have the right set of keys. Although the mural was lost once before, the school has made extensive efforts to preserve such an important part of its history, making specific efforts to protect it during the 2009 renovation of Benson Auditorium.

So next time you are grabbing a drink at the Pit-Stop, take a look above Avery and see if you can spot a piece of Pitzer’s history.