What started with a few images has turned into a gallery of pixel art lining the halls of Tigard High. The cubic pictures are fun to look at while walking from class to class, but where did they all come from?

     These pixelated murals were a final group assignment in Kelli Lafferty’s Digital Arts class last semester. “I wanted the kids to really understand how pixels create images,” Lafferty said. “It was a pretty complex project for how simple it looks.” Students were tasked with creating pixelated images on their computers, then cutting and gluing colored cardboard paper squares to bring their art to life. The final pieces were displayed outside of the classroom for everyone to see.

     “I wanted to show off their work because it was a harder project and they did invest a lot into it,” Lafferty said, noting that it took most groups a week or two to make each image. Though they were initially exhibited in the near area surrounding the class, the artworks have managed to spread across four corners into the rotunda as well.

     Lafferty loves seeing the end products of the students’ work around the halls. “There’s so much reward in knowing that I gave them a little and they came up with so much more,” she said. “I give them just a taste of what I want, and they take it and run with it, and I’m always just blown away with what they come up with.” She hopes her students will take the initiative to continue making pixel art and adding to the color of Tigard High’s halls, and she encourages anyone to give it a try in her after-school digital arts club.