THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS
The Judgement of Paris was painted in 2014 for Meridian High School of Bellingham WA for their newly constructed campus. John Wehrle was selected as the artist by the school’s art committee from a roster maintained by ARTSWA, the Washington state Arts Commission. Meridian’s mascot is the Trojan, and this presented a visual opportunity to revisit Homer’s Iliad. Meridian is a generational institution and we chose to retain the memory of the 1922 building, which had to be demolished for the new construction. The multi-painting installation also includes aerial views of the landscape seen through Pythagorean windows, Achilles heel, DNA clouds over nearby Mt. Baker, a Trojan horse and portraits of former students from previous eras.