Art as Activism and Allyship: Black Lives Matter Student Murals

This article describes how Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) art teacher SJ Hemmerich intentionally addresses social justice topics they see as problematic within Hemmerich's school community, and features artwork created by artists of color and queer artists from different religions, cultures, and backgrounds and with varying abilities and disabilities. Hemmerich strives to adapt their classroom procedures, practice, and curriculum focus to reflect and uplift their most marginalized students' histories, cultures, languages, and intersectional identities. Inspired by the collective mural-making effort that took place during the BLM protests in the summer of 2020, following the killing of George Floyd, Hemmerich designed a Black Lives Matter (BLM) mural lesson to provide a meaningful and appropriate opportunity for everyone involved. The lesson included a slide presentation with photos Hemmerich had taken of local BLM murals as well as context acknowledging the current events at the time. Hemmerich posed the following prompt: "If you could design your own mural, describe in words its message and what the mural would look like." While reading the thoughtful and heartfelt responses, Hemmerich selected one Black student's design idea, which allowed for multiple students of color to fill in their own unique section. This student's design idea would be used for the location with one large panel, and artists of color who showed up to paint would help design and paint the other location, which had five separate panels. First, Hemmerich intentionally uplifted the voices of their students of color as the mural designers and painters. Other students and families were invited to be allies by writing and drawing chalk messages in front of the murals, wearing homemade and supportive BLM clothing, and creating and holding up BLM-related signs near the painting areas. Allyship was demonstrated through active support and solidarity. Allies took a back seat to the painters and designers, whose final mural was the actual spotlight (The Anti-Oppression Network, 2017). In total, more than 135 students participated in the painting of the two mural locations. In addition to the painters, hundreds of student allies and their families were overjoyed to support their classmates and be a meaningful part of a movement.