'You belong here': Exeter High School students unveil mural representing community

EXETER — Exeter High School has added a mural to its hallway – one that showcases the true meaning of being a part of the Blue Hawks’ community.

The school’s newly formed Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) Student Committee recently partnered with genEquality, a nonprofit organization focused on equality and inclusion through arts and culture, to create a Nudge Art mural.

“We always bring a local artist as a teaching artist who works with students and our community members to design a mural that visualizes the values that they stand for," said Sherry Hakimi, executive director of genEquality.

Having partnered with public schools in New York and even Toronto, Canada, Hakimi said Nudge Art murals are distinct from each other, but have three main components.

"They're all unique, because no two communities are the same. But, they're all led by local artists; they're all co-designed and co-created by community; and they all have the words 'you belong' with an interactive element somewhere in the mural," she said.

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Students co-created the design alongside local artist Rebekah Welch. The mural was unveiled during the last week of the 2021-22 school year and will be a permanent art display in the school’s main foyer.

For the Nudge Art mural, students wanted to focus on six value statements as calls to action. The number six is particularly symbolic for students as the Exeter public school community comprises six towns.

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Meaning behind the Nudge Art mural

Each element in the mural tells a story.

The hawk in itself and the way it is positioned represents the student body as a whole – it signifies that as a school, they are a community.

The way the hawk’s wings wrap around the people in the center and bring them together to form a community represents belonging and inclusion.

Within that community, the people being “hugged” by the hawk represents the diversity of the school’s population and the togetherness of everyone.

The six hawks flying on the top of the mural is another symbolic illustration of the towns that make up the school district – Exeter, Brentwood, East Kingston, Kensington, Newfields and Stratham.

Almost every color in the mural has an intended meaning behind it.

From white to dark, brown and black, each “people” in the mural was painted with a different color of a skin tone – it symbolizes the diversity of the community and that everyone is welcome, regardless of their skin color.

Students chose to paint the hawk’s left wings colorful to represent the LGBTQIA+ community and the right wing was designed as a homage to people of color, who can sometimes feel marginalized in a predominantly white school community.

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At the center of it all are six action statements such as “celebrate differences,” “show kindness” and “respect others.”

Hakimi said it’s important for those statements to have action words as it encourages viewers to practice those values.

“Art stays around,” said Hakimi. “It’s a tangible thing that people can connect with – not only the kids who created it, but their classmates, teachers, families and community members.”

EHS students lead DEIJ initiatives

Dan Provost, an English teacher at EHS who advises the student senate, said students formed an interest in starting a DEIJ Student Committee earlier this year. He said students led many initiatives.

Those initiatives, he said, include students finding a way to amplify the value of equity throughout the school building, aside from learning them in classes.

“We worked with Andres Meija (director of DEIJ for SAU 16 schools) and he linked us up with genEquality,” said Provost about the Nudge Art mural. “Anytime you’re working with kids, it’s ideas after ideas, but once you give them something concrete, they get those ideas done.”

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Provost said the main idea behind the mural is to tell someone “You belong here.”

“There are so many opportunities in this building for such a diverse range of students – we have a Dungeons and Dragon Club as well as a Minecraft Club,” he said. “The message ‘You belong here’ means that there is something at EHS for everybody – we really wanted to radiate it out.”

Beatriz Mella, who is a member of the school's Class of 2025, was one of the students who designed and painted the mural. She said the eight-hour project made her feel she was a part of something bigger.

“DEIJ stands for very powerful and prominent words that are unfortunately not always seen in our community,” said Mella. “In our DEIJ meetings leading up to painting day, I was able to hear various students' point of views about their personal experiences in our school. Hearing others share something vulnerable to them really opened my eyes to the problems, and how change is desperately needed.”

She said being a part of the DEIJ Student Committee allowed her to be a part of these changes that were necessarily needed.

“Although people may just see the paint on the surface, behind the canvas lies the work of students who came together as one to create a change that we hope inspires others to make as well,” said Mella.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exeter High School students unveils 'You belong here' mural