GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Howe Elementary Community School in Green Bay has a new playground mural, featuring the images of six current students.
A mural dedication took place Wednesday. Fox Cities artist Irineo Medina says it provides Howe students and families with a mirror to see themselves represented and celebrated positively.
“Going to a predominantly white school in a predominantly white community, to be able to feel comfortable in my own skin and just finding my identity, it was tough at times,” Medina told WTAQ News. “I really think about myself as a child and some of the things that I missed or wish I could’ve had. Representation was such a huge part…A lot of my work is about kids or for kids, because I want them to have at least one piece in their space that means a lot to them and that they could feel connectedness to.”
Medina says creating a sense of belonging for young students of diverse backgrounds is huge when it comes to positive outcomes.
“I’m pretty blessed to have been able to step in this community. Howe ranks among the most diverse elementary schools in the state, so just to be able to give them this piece in their space, because their surrounding community looks like them, it has some life behind it,” Medina said.
Howe actually ranks in the top 1% in Wisconsin when it comes to diverse student populations. Minority enrollment is 80% of the student body, which is significantly higher than the state average of 30%.
“We’re an increasingly diverse community. We saw that very vividly represented in the new census numbers. We see it in our schools as well. The beauty of diversity and inclusion is really clear every day in this community, every day and in our schools, and is on great display here with the art,” said Mayor Eric Genrich.
Medina says it took approximately 60-70 hours to complete the project, including a pair of 24-hour shifts and a few other days mixed in. Every classroom in the school also had an opportunity to paint a piece of the mural.
“It’s a great message to be sending to the community – the importance of diversity in our schools and our community, and the power of art to bring people together and send a positive message,” Genrich said. “We’ve seen more and more public art cropping up across the city over the last few years, and that’s thanks to our public arts coordinator as well as the arts community here. This stuff doesn’t happen without the artists, and in this case it doesn’t happen without the kids or the school district.”
Downtown Green Bay supported the Medina’s paint budget, and Immel Construction for supplied the scaffolding to complete the project.
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