Artwork > Community Mural Projects > Youth Projects > Schools

Chain Reaction of Kindness, 2012
Jonas Clarke Middle School, Lexington

I had the pleasure of being the artist-in-residence at a Lexington middle school from January - March 2012. I worked with over 850 kids to help them design and paint a four wall mural in the main stairwell of their school. The theme of the murals were inspired by Rachel's Challenge, an anti-bullying program that exists to inspire, equip and empower every person to create a permanent positive culture change in their school by starting a chain reaction of kindness and compassion, and by the incredible diversity within the school.

Read on for the artist statement written by the kids:

Starting in January 2012 we worked with artist Tova Speter to transform the plain walls of our stairwell into a piece of art with a message. Our inspiration came from two main sources: Rachel’s Challenge, and the incredible diversity of the Clarke community.

The mural starts on the first floor with the Jonas Clarke Middle School mascot, the bulldog. The bulldog represents Clarke as a whole. He is dreaming of the murals, which is why dream bubbles surround them. The first one says “Dream Big” in the clouds to encourage us to overcome obstacles, persevere, believe in ourselves, and know that we can do anything. Dream big is one of Rachel’s Challenges which the students of Clarke have pledged to accept. The bulldog’s dream also includes his paradise of a sandy beach, the ocean, and a sunrise that symbolizes hope. The rainbow is made up of the word “kindness” written in 40 different languages representing the diversity of Clarke students. The large flowers in the dream each have a symbol in the center showing peace, love, and happiness.

The mural continues with gears that lead up the stairwell to the bulldog’s next dream bubble. The gears serve as a representation of another of the themes of Rachel’s Challenge, which is to start a chain reaction of kindness. The way gears work is that they are turned by the gears before them, and they then help turn the gears after them. In the same way, we all can help one other to reach our goals. The gears were each designed with a different word that we thought would help encourage and inspire our friends as they walk through the stairwell.

Between the first and second floors, the mural contains the handprints of over 850 people in our school community. Rachel’s Challenge inspired this design because Rachel once traced her handprints and wrote, “These hands belong to Rachel Joy Scott and will one day touch millions of people’s hearts.” So on our wall it states, “These hands belong to everyone at Jonas Clarke Middle School and will someday touch millions of people’s hearts.” To more fully depict this message, the handprints form the shape of a large heart.

On the second floor we have two hands reaching out and holding gears that appear to be in motion. The hands are made of puzzle pieces of different skin colors representing the diversity in our school. The words remind us to “Start a Chain Reaction” and the gears symbolize the movement of change, change for the better.
The final dream bubble between the second and third floors is the wall that continues to highlight diversity. There is a flag with a picture of the world and people interlocking arms with the patterns of 51 countries’ flags. The background is the universe and it has different constellations around the flag made up of various stars on which people can wish. The words say “Appreciate Everyone” because it is important to remember that we should appreciate the unique qualities that every individual brings to our community.

Rachel’s Challenge and the incredible diversity of the Clarke community inspired our mural. It is now our hope, that over the years, our mural will inspire you.

-Student painters of the mural, March 2012

Many thanks to all of the students who stayed afterschool to help paint, to the parent volunteers, to Steve, Phyllis, and Tessa at the school, and to Assistant Principal Jennifer Turner for her ongoing support through the process.