Colette Miller, a world-renown artist who travels the globe painting angel wings, started a new project at Saugus High School Saturday, as she painted a mural in honor of Gracie Muehlberger.
On Saturday, Miller joined Bryan and Cindy Muehlberger at Saugus High School to start on a mural honoring their daughter Gracie, who was one of three students who lost their lives in the Saugus High shooting in November of 2019.
“We’ve been talking with Saugus High School about doing some sort of mural, a memorial of sorts on the campus,” Bryan said. “We didn’t want to do anything that was kind of sad. We wanted something that was interactive and fun.”
Following the tragedy at Saugus High, the Muehlbergers found a collection of photos that Gracie had taken in front of a pair of Miller’s wings in Melrose, with one captured at the moment where she jumped into the air, giving the appearance that she was flying.
“It just became so perfect given the situation and representation of her just being kind of this free spirit, fun, loving individual, but also someone who had since passed, and was an angel now,” Bryan said. “It just kind of touched us in such a unique way.”
This inspired Bryan and Cindy to reach out to Miller for help with this mural. While Miller did not know about Gracie’s picture with her wings at first, the reality of it set in once she arrived in Santa Clarita on Friday.
“I got really emotional,” she said. “It’s something that shouldn’t happen anywhere, ever.”
Miller has painted angel wings all over the world since 2012 as part of her Global Angel Wings Project.
“It’s basically to remind humanity of our higher natures, that we are the angels of this earth,” Miller said. “It was more about addressing the human condition.”
Photo by Michael Brown/KHTS News.
Although Miller has painted wings everywhere from Kenya to France, this particular pair are “very precious and special” to her. The colors of the wings themselves “represent Gracie so well,” according to Bryan.
“She was a colorful individual herself,” he said. “The pink just signifies this peace and happiness and joy. You can’t get mad when you see a pink color.”
In addition to the wings, Miller is also planning to add a short poem that Gracie wrote next to the mural, which reads: “You only have one life to live, so why not live it great, real and fill it with memories and experiences.”
“Her poem was almost prophetic in a way because she talks about just how memories and experiences are the most important thing in life,” Miller said. That’s very wise beyond her years.”
See Related: Gracie Muehlberger’s Family Celebrates Her 16th Birthday
The family of Dominic Blackwell, another student who lost his life during the shooting, are also working on getting a mural that represents Dominic set up next to Gracie’s. Bryan hopes that the murals become something that all students want to interact with when they come on campus.
“This is part of our healing process, and hopefully a part of the Saugus High School healing process for the students that come here and those that will come through here years to come,” he said. “They’ll remember the people that were impacted, the two students that lost their lives, but in a very positive way, that they brought joy and happiness to people’s lives.”
For more information about Colette Miller, click here. To learn more about the Gracie Strong Foundation that the Muehlbergers have set up, click here.
Photo by Michael Brown/KHTS News.
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