Student Library Mural Celebrates Nature in the City

The second floor landing of the just got a lot more colorful, thanks to an art installation created and donated by a group of Beverly high school students to celebrate nature in the city.

The three-panel mural, hung on an otherwise blank wall at the top of the stairs in the Tremont Street branch, traces downtown Boston’s metamorphosis from marshland to an urban center. An early map of Boston at one end of the canvas is juxtaposed with an MBTA subway map, with various Boston landmarks sprinkled in between.

The mural was created by a group of a dozen students from the Waring School, a private liberal arts school in Beverly serving students from grades 6-12, during a three-week elective period known as “End Term.” During End Term, students pick from a variety of programs ranging from farming to community service.

Tenth grader Cam McInnes described the elective period as the perfect way to transition from school to summer. McInnes chose the South End project (dubbed “Urban Bound”) after his older sister raved about it a few years before.  

“I wanted to try it out because she really liked it,” he said from the second floor of the library as the mural was hung on Tuesday. “We’re learning about the other side of cities.”

This isn’t the first piece of art the Waring School has contributed to the South End Library. Teacher Jim Watras, a South End resident, approached children’s librarian Margaret Gardner four years ago about a possible collaboration. The result was the colorful mural that can still be seen from the sidewalk in the library’s upper level, encouraging passersby to pick a book (it’s free!).

“It’s been really interesting,” Watras said of the partnership. “Every day I drive 25 miles to Beverly and I thought, could I at least share this part of my weekend/night hours [with the kids]?”

For the last week, students have been living in the South End with Watras and various friends, working at the library and touring the city. Under the instruction of art teacher Vicki Paret, the group created sketches of various cityscapes to incorporate into the final paintings.

The students ranged in their artistic ability, but all contributed, Paret said. A panel depicting a row of typical Boston brownstones has a different scene in every window – each painted by a different student. All four Boston sports teams are proudly represented. 

“It’s really fun,” Paret said as kids milled about the second floor landing, doing touch-ups and overseeing the hanging.

“It combined two of my favorite things,” tenth grader Maddie Crowley said of the project. “I love community service and I love art.”

The mural will be on permenant display at the top of the second floor landing in the South End Library. Stop by and take a look during regular hours.