You Belong Here

A mural donation project for Chelsea Heights Elementary School.

This project began with a post that I saw from a member of the PTO, saying that the schools arts funding had been cut, that they had to let go of their art teachers, and were hoping for some community volunteers to keep exposing the kids to the arts.

The art program at my elementary school was also run by volunteers, and I was happy at the chance to pay it forward! We had a planning class, where I asked second grade students what they would want new kids to know about their school when they arrived, and what they felt proud about. One girl said that she would want new students to feel like they belonged there, which her classmates all agreed to. There was the theme! Students each drew their own design, and I took many pieces of them (blue background, plants and flowers, monarch butterflies, red text, groups of three) to create a big design to encapsulate their ideas. Members of the administration and the PTO, as well as a BIPOC parent support group, helped me finalize the design and message.

I painted the mural for 4 days, and then students helped me finish with a big painting day.

As I painted the mural, students in the hallways were really excited to point out which of the kids looked like them. One excited kindergartener was so thrilled that the girl looked like her that she wore a matching hijab to school to show me the next day. It was a good reminder that representation is so important, that kids having access to art really matters, and that when it feels like a lot of hate is happening in the world that there are many ways we can still take care of our own little communities.