Community painting mural at JFK school — a collage of places students say they feel happy, safe

Adelaide Amias, 13, left, and Lucia Flajnik-Palladino, 13, paint one of 52 mural panels to help create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School during a community painting party Saturday afternoon in the school cafeteria. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Color Collaborative member Lucia Montalvo, right, mixes a pallet of paint for Leia Nagle, 11, during a community painting party Saturday to create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Bill Comeaux, front, works with dozens of community members to paint 52 panels to create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School during a community painting party Saturday afternoon in the school cafeteria. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Lucia Flajnik-Palladino, 13, right, and Adelaide Amias, 13, paint one of 52 mural panels to help create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School during a community painting party Saturday afternoon in the school cafeteria. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Victoria McKinney, 12, from left, Georgia Dejasu, 12, Leia Nagle, 11, Natalie Dejasu, 8, Jen Godlesky, Allaya Torres-Creek, 12, and Ella Sasser, 13, paint one of 52 mural panels to help create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School during a community painting party Saturday afternoon in the school cafeteria. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Adelaide Amias 13, from left, Esmirelda Harrison, Ezekiel Harrison and Reggie Coleman paint one of 52 mural panels to help create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School during a community painting party Saturday afternoon in the school cafeteria. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

Bill Comeaux and Carie Goldenberg work with dozens of community members to paint 52 panels to create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School during a community painting party Saturday afternoon in the school cafeteria. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

A 1,500-square-foot mural will be created for this section of JFK Middle School in Florence. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

By ALEXANDER MACDOUGALL

Staff Writer

Published: 04-07-2024 2:01 PM

Modified: 04-07-2024 6:02 PM

NORTHAMPTON — Members of the greater Northampton community took part in a painting party on Saturday to help create a 1,500-square-foot mural for JFK Middle School.

The project was spearheaded by two local artists, Sharon Leshner and Ryan Murray. The mural was inspired by a question posed to the students of the middle school: “What is a place where you can imagine feeling happy and safe?”

“The lesson is to introduce to the students that art can be used as a way to regulate their emotions,” suid Leshner, who runs Color Collaborative studio in Easthampton. “It’s not art therapy in the proper sense, since it’s not a therapeutic environment, but it’s introducing the idea of art was a way to process emotions and feelings.”

Based on the designs of collages created by students centered on that theme, Leshner and Murray created the mural, turning it into a “collage of collages.” It features natural environments such as trees and beaches, along with strong elements of movements and color.

“We really created this sort of imaginary landscape, I would say,” said Leshner.

The mural is painted on polytab, a canvas like-material that allows for greater ease of painting for community members, who followed a paint-by-number scheme to complete the mural. A paint bar was also part of the event, offering drinks to community participants.

The JFK middle school mural is only the first project planned as part of the initiative, with an additional mural planned at Summit Academy in Amherst and hopes to expand to other locations such as health care spaces and higher education.

The project received grant funding from the Northampton Education Foundation, and is organized in collaboration between the Color Collaborative and Resilient Community Arts.

Article continues after...