One of the great interior landmarks of TESC were the dragons in the main library building stairwell connecting the sub-basement and the top floor. Back in 1972 when the dragons were painted, the top floor of the building served as the cafeteria, so the stairs were busier in those days. By 1974 the food service had moved into the CAB.

An Evergreen coordinated studies called Man and Art supplied the labor. The idea came from faculty member Jose Arguelles. The end result was an amazing winding mural that effectively combatted TESC's 70's concrete blahness. But instead of Evergreen being in the belly of the beast, the beasts were in the belly of Evergreen. Whenever I showed newcomers around the College, I always made sure they saw this artwork.

Even though I knew they were there, I usually reacted as if they were unexpected when I used those stairs. And I saw something new every time.

Arguelles went on to become a controversial New Age author and co-founder, with his wife Lloydine, of the Planet Art Network. I understand the dragons have since vanished, but I'm not sure if that is true and if so, when it happened. Did they fly away, or were they just painted over? I like to think the former is more likely than the mundane explanation of the latter.