by Leah Budson

Monica Reuman ’11’s new painting commemorating the old building was installed outside the cafeteria this summer.

“I knew that I would miss the old Newton North, and in order to somehow preserve its memory, I wanted to bring a piece of it into the new school,” Reuman said. The painting depicts eight students on a segment of Main Street, gathered under the words “Learning Sustains” from the school motto “Learning Sustains the Human Spirit.”
Reuman said she began the painting at the end of her junior year, when former art teacher Sandra Truant offered the art majors the opportunity to create a large-scale painting for permanent display in the building.

She worked on the piece over the course of a year, said Reuman, who put the finishing touches on the painting during the winter break of her freshman year at college.

“The students you see shown in the painting are all real people,” she said. “I had a few friends model for me during their free periods.”
According to Reuman, the boy in the lacrosse jersey is Adam London ’11, who died in a car accident in August 2010.

“We all have memories of him in the old building. Now that he is a part of this painted scene, our memories will forever be protected,” she said.

When she visited this school in June, Reuman said she was thrilled to see her painting hung, reminding students of the old building. “The now-demolished building remains important to me and to generations before me, housing many memories.”