On Sunday morning, Eric Shimanoff and Geoff Patton welcomed friends, family and faculty into the D Wing of Columbia High School, where they added the finishing touches to a mural they commissioned to honor their 17-year-old son Jonah, who died in January.
The mural reflects all things Jonah—from his graffiti art and inspiration from artists Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat to his drums, signifying his love for heavy metal, to the vinyl records he transformed in his own art to the LEGOs he built and created with. It is colorful and eye-catching.
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“I love how when you walk into the school you can just see it,” said local artist Elijah Minton, who executed Shimanoff and Patton’s vision. “It’s the best placement of a school mural I’ve ever seen.”
Some of Jonah’s friends and family came together to work with the mural artist to finish the mural in the D wing at CHS in Jonah’s honor. (Photo by Skylar Smith)
Minton’s first project with Mural Artist Collective (MAC), the organization that worked in collaboration with Jonah’s parents to create the mural, was in 2021, but his interest in graffiti started at a very young age, much like Jonah’s. Although he never had the opportunity to meet Jonah, the mural really resonates with him as an artist.
“I love the whole concept of it,” Minton said. “I can see we have a lot in common.”
Jonah’s parents, Geoff Patton and Eric Shimanoff, and Jonah’s friend Jacob Zaslavsky work on the mural. (Photo by Skylar Smith)
MAC represents hundreds of artists across the country, and their projects range from residential murals to the campaigns of bigger brands.
This mural specifically, though, is “very personal and meaningful,” said project manager Eileen Cedrone. She hopes the bright and colorful wall will “bring some energy and inspiration to students’ day as they’re walking to class…Jonah found a way to express himself, and others should be encouraged to do that, too.”
Jonah’s good friend and senior at CHS, Jonathan Cook, said he thinks the mural does a great job of encapsulating the many sides of Jonah, and perfectly represents his energy.
“He was somebody who would have a new interest everyday…he had such an enthusiasm for life, something I try to emulate,” he said.
The mural is an illustrated representation of things Jonah, a talented artist, loved. The message, meant to inspire other students, was also on the cover of Jonah’s sketchbook. (Photo by Skylar Smith)
In the center of the mural, in big, bold letters, exclaims: BE CREATIVE, the message on the cover of Jonah’s sketchbook. And while this mural illustrates Jonah’s passions and who he was as a person, his parents also wanted to use it as an opportunity to give back to the CHS community, something that Jonah so frequently did.
“People called Jonah ‘the mayor,’” Shimanoff explained. “He was very well known to crossing guards, shop owners…He knew everybody and made it a point of getting to know people.”
Jonah was adventurous and loved to experience life. His parents said that he had a way artistically of seeing things that other people couldn’t and would always find a way to create things and repurpose them. He went through a lot of different stages with different forms of media, exploring fashion, sewing, accessory design, and collage work, his parents said. He was mainly self taught, but went to Buck’s Rock Performing and Creative Arts Camp in Connecticut, and studied Commercial Art at Union County Career & Technical Institute in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
Last summer, Jonah spent two weeks at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and was later accepted there for undergraduate school. “He just knew it was his dream,” his parents said.
CHS Principal Frank Sanchez welcomed the mural project and presented Jonah’s dads with his diploma. (Photo by Skylar Smith)
When Shimanoff and Patton met with CHS Principal Frank Sanchez to find a fitting spot for the mural, they coincidentally chose to display it in the art wing. Sanchez was “incredibly helpful, thoughtful and supportive from day one” of the project, they said.
“We want to make sure that Jonah is remembered,” Sanchez said to Jonah’s parents, as he handed them his high school diploma in light of CHS graduation approaching. “He worked so hard here at CHS and had such an impact on his friends and teachers.”
In addition to the mural, Jonah’s parents have organized the Kindness Project, an initiative to encourage people to do acts of good in Jonah’s memory. They opened up a space on Instagram and Facebook for people to share what they have done for others, or what they have received.
Jonah loved creating graffiti art, among forms of art and creative expression. (Photo courtesy of Geoff Patton and Eric Shimanoff)
“It’s really exciting to hear about the things that people are doing,” they said.
But no words, or good deeds, will be able to truly convey Jonah’s vibrance or infectious personality.
“We could talk forever about Jonah, and put up a mural on the side of the Empire State Building, but still not be able to capture everything about him,” Shimanoff said.
However, this mural is “a great way to capture his spirit,” or at least a bit of it, his parents said. It is truly a special thing “to have a hand in creating this beautiful piece of art” to keep Jonah’s memory alive.
The mural is located on the first floor of CHS, and can be seen as soon as one enters the building and looks to the left down the hallway that goes into the D wing.
Other pictures from the mural painting event:
Some of Jonah’s artwork that inspired ideas for the mural:
Jonah’s creative tranformation of vinyl record albums.
