Fort Vancouver High dugout mural to be modified

A controversial mural teens painted on the softball dugout at Fort Vancouver High School last month has not been painted over.

When the school’s softball coach, Crystal Wallace, got the idea to create artwork for the softball dugout, a group of teens — two Fort Vancouver students and others not enrolled at Fort — gathered cans of spray paint and went to work in late January.

In shaded block letters, the mural spells out “Trapper,” the school’s mascot.

Administrators learned about the mural and realized it hadn’t been vetted through the district’s approval process for building alterations.

Scott Parker, the school’s principal, said he is working with the two teen artists from Fort Vancouver and school staff to develop a plan to modify the artwork.

“There might be some parts we can still use,” Parker said. The final mural “will have to match our athletic code and colors,” he said.

The school colors are red and white, with some gray. The mural is mostly white and gray, with a bit of red.

The artwork plan will be reviewed by district operations and facility planning administrators, who will make the decision. There is no set timeline for making a decision, Parker said.

Neither the softball coach nor the students have been reprimanded, he said.