“We Belong Here” Mural Celebrates Asian Pride in Hallway

Deering High School students Mattea and Nicole collaborated to produce a beautiful mural to celebrate to celebrate Asian pride in the wake of increased violence against Asian-Americans since the COVID-19 pandemic began. They problem-solved together to overcome obstacles in putting up the artwork, and they shared they were very proud of the final result.

“We hope that our mural both acted as a supportive message to Asian students at Deering and accurately portrayed Deering's values as a diverse school.” They wrote in their reflection. “As Asian-Americans, Nicole and I (Mattea) recognized that the Asian community is in need of support from allies. We are also both art students and liked the idea of painting a mural at school for our capstone. Public art is a valuable part of a community. While we were painting the mural, we had countless people pass by, compliment us, and ask about the mural. We received a huge amount of support and interest from administration, staff, and students that we weren't expecting.” 

• Students: Mattea Lo-Sears & Nicole Quang

• Adult Advisor: Emily Serway (Deering High School Art Teacher)

• Grant amount: $236