Friends School Mural Project: Get King on the Road
Tax deductible
State College Friends School is a small, Quaker school in State College, PA. There, students learn to live by the Quaker testimonies of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship. One focus of our learning about the equality testimony is the struggle for civil rights for all people in this country and around the world. We are always in session on Martin Luther King Jr. Day so that we can honor the life and work of this phenomenal leader.
This year, the Friends Middle School students created this mural, entitled "Until All of Us Are Free," in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. and dedicated to those who have lost their lives as we continue to fight for civil rights for all. Per their artists' statement, “the 3,446 white thumbprints around King represent (the known) Blacks lynched in America since 1882, while red ones represent the 223 Blacks fatally shot by police in 2017 alone. That is 23% of all fatal police shootings for the year, though Black Americans only comprise 13% of the population.” The students were moved to create this piece to bring attention to this disparity and this injustice.
When they made this mural, the students had no idea the kind of impact it would have on our little school community, and on visitors who have seen it in person or in photos shared online. They didn’t create it with any expectation for longevity, but rather made it out of their fire for justice over the course of a week with the supplies we had on hand: thin bulletin board paper and tempera paint.
We are raising funds so that we can work with local photographer, Michael Black, and local artist, William Snyder III, to turn our fragile paint-and-paper mural into a permanent display piece and (more importantly) to digitize it.
Once it has been digitized, we can share the mural with several local and national organizations who have already asked to display it and get the message of these young activists out to a wider audience. We can also make high-quality prints from a digital copy of the work, which the students would like to sell to benefit organizations at the forefront in the fight for social justice.
At the State College Friends School, all students pre-K through 8th grade share a weekly time of silent reflection followed by a not-so-silent time of singing. Frequently, we raise our voices in a song called “What Can One Little Person Do?” This mural represents what eleven (not so little teen and pre-teen) kids can do. Help us share it with the world?
Photo credit: Michael Black
This year, the Friends Middle School students created this mural, entitled "Until All of Us Are Free," in honor of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. and dedicated to those who have lost their lives as we continue to fight for civil rights for all. Per their artists' statement, “the 3,446 white thumbprints around King represent (the known) Blacks lynched in America since 1882, while red ones represent the 223 Blacks fatally shot by police in 2017 alone. That is 23% of all fatal police shootings for the year, though Black Americans only comprise 13% of the population.” The students were moved to create this piece to bring attention to this disparity and this injustice.
When they made this mural, the students had no idea the kind of impact it would have on our little school community, and on visitors who have seen it in person or in photos shared online. They didn’t create it with any expectation for longevity, but rather made it out of their fire for justice over the course of a week with the supplies we had on hand: thin bulletin board paper and tempera paint.
We are raising funds so that we can work with local photographer, Michael Black, and local artist, William Snyder III, to turn our fragile paint-and-paper mural into a permanent display piece and (more importantly) to digitize it.
Once it has been digitized, we can share the mural with several local and national organizations who have already asked to display it and get the message of these young activists out to a wider audience. We can also make high-quality prints from a digital copy of the work, which the students would like to sell to benefit organizations at the forefront in the fight for social justice.
At the State College Friends School, all students pre-K through 8th grade share a weekly time of silent reflection followed by a not-so-silent time of singing. Frequently, we raise our voices in a song called “What Can One Little Person Do?” This mural represents what eleven (not so little teen and pre-teen) kids can do. Help us share it with the world?
Photo credit: Michael Black
Organizer
Bailey Kellermann
Organizer
State College, PA
State College Friends School
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
