“Deeper Than Demographics” – A Look at Smith Hall’s New Mural
“I asked students to reflect on…what [they] wish people who identified differently understood about [their] experience?”
Liz Maher (Directing Artist)
In an effort to empower their students, the directors of what was, at the time, the Honors Residential Academic Program in Smith Hall commissioned artist Liz Maher to facilitate a mural competition in which students were given the opportunity to have their voices expressed through paint. Maher, in addition to being an artist, is also an art therapist and counselor who specializes in the use of art in better understanding and processing emotion and thought.
The technique that Maher used in facilitating the mural is called “response art“. This therapeutic practice focuses on art and creative expression as a means through which therapists express the thoughts, feelings, and emotions that have been expressed to them by their clients. Smith students participated in interviews as well as focus groups in order to hone the ideas and emotions that they would later express through paint, giving added dimension to the mural as a representation of our fellow students’ own thoughts and struggles as they grapple with many issues such as race, gender, culture, religion, and sexual identity. After hearing their live testimonies, Liz Maher consolidated those stories into a mural that captured a vast array of different voices and experiences.
When plans to unveil the final product last Spring fell through due to COVID-19, the Honors Program instead chose to reveal the mural virtually, in the form of a slideshow and a feature on the H-RAP website. What came of this project is an extensive and eclectic work colorfully adorning the hallway of a building that many students over the years have called “home”. The creative voice of the many different participants is expressed through various scenes and sections of wall that capture their diverse experiences of interacting with the world. Students’ voices are further captured by the work by the many framed, student-created, individual artworks that have been integrated throughout the piece.
The mural captures the nuance of the Honors Program spirit as a whole. While it celebrates the many different backgrounds, belief systems, and experiences that make everyone around us unique, it also reminds us that these unique members and come together to form a rich and close-knit community.
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