Art students travel to paint mural for peace
On Feb. 20 Valerie Aranda, a GCSU associate professor of art, and six of her art students traveled to Memphis, Tenn., to help paint a mural in the cafeteria of Lester Middle School.
Richard Lou, the art department chair at the University of Memphis, invited Aranda to come to Memphis to paint the mural. Six GCSU art major students, Jessica Peet, Tempestt Jackson, Anne Humphrys, Julia Allen, Gabby Caraballo and Karla Leggat, volunteered to take the trip with Aranda to help paint the mural.
Not only did Aranda have the help of her students but also high school students, participating in this year’s MidSouth Peace Jam conference, came out and helped with the mural. The six GCSU students prepared paint for the students and directed them to specific areas of the mural where they could paint or apply their handprints and fingerprints to the wall.
According to Peace Jam’s Web site, www.peacejam.org, the group is “a worldwide movement of young people and Nobel Peace Prize Winners working together for social justice and peace.” Each year high school students are invited to attend Peace Jam, which is held in different cities, for six days. At the conference a selected Nobel Peace Prize winner comes and speaks to the students.
“(Peace Jam is) the organization that identifies a project for the high school students, the Peace Jammers as they call them,” Aranda said. The group identified Lester Middle School as a place for a project because the school was the unfortunate site of a mass murder atrocity in 2008 and has also had to endure other hardships.
“It’s also (in) a neighborhood that is economically challenged. I think they chose this area and Lester Middle School as a target through the arts and this mural, and through the help of the high school students, the college students and myself, to bring people together.”
The mural features portraits of the students at the middle school, an image of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., musical instruments, the school’s mascot and a portrait of this year’s Peace Jam Nobel Peace Prize winner, Shirin Edadi.
Karla Leggat, a junior art major, said the mural illustrates the school as a whole.
“The mural consisted of several elements characteristic of the learning environment portrayed by its location,” Leggat said. “The keyboard, trumpet and violin represent the school’s strong foundation in the fine arts along with the large central color spectrum seen behind the head of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Several actual students are represented in the mural as they might be seen on campus, hanging out with friends, or working together on group work.”
The school has been making improvements such as painting the school and putting in new windows. Aranda believes that this mural not only is an additional improvement to the school but it is also something that lifts the spirits of the school as a whole and the community around it.
“I see it as a gift to the community and that it’s a vision that is shared. I think the imagery is hopeful, it’s positive and it’s even a reflection of themselves. It’s a painting for the people, it’s a painting for the community and again is a way to boost the moral and to bring improvements to the school,” Aranda said.
Jessica Peet, a junior art major, said she enjoyed her experience working on the mural and believes the project was not only positive for the school and its surrounding community, but also for those who took part in creating it as well.
“The impact we had on the community and that school was so great,” Peet said. “I have always heard about how art impacts people’s lives but I have never been involved in a situation where I have seen that actually come true. That mural and just the whole experience of being involved with everyone there showed me how important art and that mural was to help lift up the spirits of the people there.”
Posted by Lauren Davidson
on Apr 2 2010. Filed under Features.
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