Black students at Adams State University have found little to no representation on campus in the form of art. A couple of years ago, the Black Student Union along with Professor and Inclusive Excellence Liaison Heidi Schneider wanted to change that after an alum donated money to help highlight black voices and black representation on ASU’s campus.
Friday night, a reception was held to celebrate the unveiling of such a mural.
The idea of a mural representing black students, black voices, and broader cultural representation had been discussed for awhile. They just needed a place for it. On the third floor of McDaniel Hall, a permanent home was found. All while inspiring other students to represent their culture in the same way.
The original muralist ended up ghosting Schneider and project organizers, which led them to look closer to home for help. Art professors Bill Tite and Mary Wilhelm joined with the Black Student Union, art students, and community members who volunteered their time to paint.
“I’ve never been so happy to be ghosted because I think what ended up with this project with the Art Department collaborating, our own students and community members volunteering their time, it turned out better than I would have anticipated or could have planned,” said Schneider.
The mural wasn’t painted on panels in the art building. It was painted right on the white wall of McDaniel Hall.
Inspired by the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the mural is bright and vibrant. Its colors stand out. What stands out more is that it’s a representation of black experiences in the United States. The mural is a reflection of black history.
Within the mural are the faces of the students and a professor. They are the faces of Adams State University and they hope that more faces of marginalized, underrepresented, and different groups and cultures get to be permanent fixtures on campus.
“I’m just very proud of the artists and how much work they put in for this project. It’s a true honor to be part of something. Hopefully in the future, this inspires BSU students to do more and keep the message alive,” said Darnell Hardeman.
“This whole project has a special meaning to me because it’s gonna be here for a while. Until the end of time I guess you could say,” said Warrick “Junior” Green. “It’s really a priceless mural. You could say this is a priceless mural. A picture is worth a thousand words. Even though there are words in the mural a picture is worth a thousand words. And for everybody on there to be African-American it really proves a point and it shows the appreciation the school has for us and for everybody that will come through here who is African-American.”
“It really was a privilege to be asked to be part of this mural, to be part of this project. And not just African-American students and black students,” said assistant professor of art AnnaLeisa Connor-Meissner, “because I’m not African-American, but I’m African-Caribbean and I know we did have some recognition of African-Caribbeans on campus. It’s very diverse. There’s a lot more to my heritage. I’m also hispanic. So we have a lot of our diversity and groups represented on our mural tonight and it really gives me joy to stand with the students and to be a part of this and to represent so many other groups for the first time. It’s the first time I’ve seen a black mural on campus.”
The ASU Samba band played their drums and people came together, shared food and laughs and stories. The mural was unveiled with the drop of a curtain.
Margaret Doell, vice president of academic affairs, told the group at the reception that for a long time there was talk about adding color to the walls and reflecting who the students are, “but what do you mostly see? You see this: white walls all around us.”
Doell hopes that more murals pop up all around campus. “This is really a pivotal moment in our history.”
The Black Arts Movement began in 1965 when the poet Imamu Amiri Baraka opened the Black Arts Repertory Theater in Harlem. The movement involved writers, poets, painters, filmmakers, actors, and musicians, many of whom emerged to represent themselves during the Black Power movement.
Though the movement started in Harlem, it quickly spread across the country.
“About seven or eight percent of our students identify as black or African-American. In the larger San Luis Valley, it’s about one percent,” said Schneider. “A lot of our students that we bring in who identify as black or African-American are athletes and that means we bring them from other areas and regions to play sports for us. The community itself has a low black, African-American population and not a lot of cultural, if any that I can think of, art projects or representation of black folks here in the Valley. But they are here.”
She said that she and the students had long conversations about how they feel both hyper-visible because of their blackness and invisible because they don’t see themselves represented across the university or in the community. “It cements the beginning of really taking a stance and saying we acknowledge that we have black students here and we need to do a better job of representing it, showing it, recognizing, and celebrating our black students.”
“This mural is gonna be here for generations,” Green said.
