When chosen to create the annual Mt. Lebanon High School 2026 senior class art mural, Ava Heidenreich understood the task. She knew what she wanted to do: represent the student body, depict something significant, and include the Blue Devils’ mascot.
Typically, art murals are created to capture a moment in time, illustrate a purpose or present a unifying theme. More than just a mural, Heidenreich’s art this year acts as a vivid time capsule to depict a favorite event of the senior class – a bocce ball tournament.
Each year, students are invited to participate in an in-school bocce tournament. All grades are encouraged to create a team and compete in the day-long event. Heidenreich says this is highly anticipated among seniors. “Everybody participates. It started just as a bocce team and then transformed into big school event that everybody looks forward to each year. Most of my friends — if not all of them — participate in a team. It’s a fun event,” Heidenreich said.
The perfect way to honor the senior class, Heidenreich decided to paint the annual bocce tournament, and found the perfect Blue Devils mascot to be Cole Gibbons. A standout in Mt. Lebanon for wrestling, Gibbons is also a leader among students. Gibbons plays multiple sports and he is the student section captain for football and basketball games. “Cole is very significant for our class and so is his leadership. I felt like transforming him into an actual blue devil would be fun, and it would also represent the senior class,” said Heidenreich.
Inspired by a photo of Gibbons playing in the bocce ball tournament, Heidenreich’s mural reflects more than just him playing the game. “All of the colors on it are different shades of blue and gold, besides the bocce ball. It’s bright green because it is supposed to draw your eye to it. It is this thing that’s unifying the school, our class, everything,” said Heidenreich.
After submitting a line drawing of her idea, Heidenreich felt it an honor to be chosen as the muralist. Creating a mural is not an easy task, and it’s one that Heidenreich has been working on for months. Painted on a bulky wood slab, the mural is too large to take home, so she uses spare moments in the day — such as lunch and study hall — to complete it.
“I don’t think I expected it to take this much time out of my day, but it has definitely helped me with my time management,” Heidenreich said.
Despite the workload, Heidenreich is proud to leave such a legacy. “Graduating high school is bittersweet, but at the same time knowing that there’s always going to be a piece of me here, with my name signed on it, and everybody who’s walking by will see it, is good,” she said. “Maybe they won’t realize that I was the person who painted it, but it will always be here. That’s very meaningful to me.”
Beyond the mural, Heidenreich has served as a writing coach, a connections club leader, and the captain of the varsity soccer team for two years. Committed to attend Villanova in the fall with an NROTC scholarship, Heidenreich plans on majoring in civil engineering. Although art may not be her focus in college, she has no plans to stop creating.
“It’s a really great way for me to kind of clear my headspace and pass my time. I do feel like it’s just going to be a recreational thing for me, more like a hobby, but I would love to learn other forms of art, like clay and crochet,” Heidenreich said.
Her favorite thing about art is how one can contribute to the community with it, she said.
“In the past four years, we have had multiple beautification projects – like the ribbon hanging over the grand staircase. That year, everyone participated in making it and hanging it. I love that aspect of art,” Heidenreich said. “At the end of the year after our show, we do other beautification projects. I love how we can just contribute to our community and our school in that way.”
The final reveal of Heidenreich’s completed and framed mural will be at the upcoming AP Art Show on April 24 at 7 p.m. After the event, the mural will move to a different location where it will join other murals, honoring the moments of history made in the halls of Mt. Lebanon High School.
