The Puma Sculptures have been masterpieces since Perry first opened, creating a positive environment for students, parents, and faculty. Mascots create the identity of who we are as a school. Is it possible that the tradition of the Puma Sculptures will be put to a temporary pause this year?

“I can confirm that we’re not going to do [the Puma Sculptures] this year,” Arts Department chair Sharon Biemond said. “We’ve been doing this project for 6 years and I need a break from it.”

“Like any school project, it was so stressful,” Junior sculpture student Dayna Miller stated. “It’ll  be a bummer but it’ll be replaced by something equally as cool.”

However, this change may be a temporary one. “We’re taking a pragmatic pause… they might resume next year, but for right now, we’re taking a year off from it,” Biemond explained.

Principal Dan Serrano commented on this change in the Arts Department and shared his feelings on the Puma Sculptures. “If they are going away… maybe it was time,” Serrano said. “I liked them! I think they were very entertaining to put around campus.”

“We’ll fill that void with smaller projects,” Biemond stated. “We’re going to do an altered book project… where kids are going to just take a book and essentially destroy it and rebuild it in an artistic, sculptural way.”

The Arts Department is also planning on reintroducing a former project this year. “We’ll be doing tape sculpture insulations again this year… we haven’t done those in a couple years,” Biemond said. “[The tape sculpture insulations] are the clear packing tape sculptures… they’re full figures, and then we install them on campus when students are in class.”
The Puma Sculptures were a crowd favorite, and will be missed; but the future for the Arts Department is bright and has much to offer this year.