A neglected and forgotten graduation present from 82 years ago is getting a new lease on life.

A neglected and forgotten graduation present from 82 years ago is getting a new lease on life.

A 93-foot mural long presented by the West Aurora Class of 1933 will now shine brightly for generations to come after rescue from the demolished former school building at 14 Blackhawk St.

A portion of the mural “The History of Writing and the Alphabet” will be restored and put back on display beginning May 29 at the Pierce Art and History Center, 20 E. Downer Place in downtown Aurora.

The West Aurora Art Heritage and Education Committee is funding an on-site restoration and conservation of a 12-foot segment.

Heading up the committee are artist Wendell Minor, author Nancy Hopp, West High principal Dr. Chuck Hiscock and Aurora Historical Society president Mary Clark Ormond.

Art conservator Scott Sherwood of Aurora painstakingly removed the mural from the building that once was West High during the winter of 2014. He will be on hand at the opening reception from 5-7:30pm on May 29, and will continue to work on the piece throughout the summer during open hours and at special evening events.

The exhibit will close on Sept. 5.

The mural, by Chicago artist Paul Stoddard, was partially funded through the depression-era Works Progress Administration.

The West High Class of 1933 chose the artist and the topic and underwrote a portion of the cost.

Ninety-three feet long and six and a half feet high, it is a grand record of what may be the most illustrious accomplishment of the human mind, written language.

It begins with earliest cave images, and ends with images of a linotype machine and Michigan Avenue in Chicago as it appeared at the time of its completion in the 1930s.

Plans for the mural are to display the 12-foot segment this fall and continue to raise money to restore the remaining 81 feet for eventual installation in a District 129 school.

Other WPA murals exist in Aurora and a few, once thought lost, are being rediscovered in schools such as Freeman Elementary, where a mural of “Pilgrims in the New World” was located in May after being obscured by a drop ceiling put in for energy efficiency.

The exhibit is an offering of the Aurora Public Art Commission and is curated by Mary Ann Signorelli.  The Pierce Center is open from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

Persons interested in donating to the preservation effort and would like special access to the curators and conservators are invited to join a donor society.

Details are available at www.CommunityFoundationFRV.org under the heading “See All Funds/West Aurora Art Heritage”.

For more information contact the Aurora Historical Society at (630) 906-0650 and leave a message for the West Aurora Art Heritage Committee.