FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM APRIL 22, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 37
Townsend Harris High School students unveil first inclusive
safety mural design in collaboration with Queens artist
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
CMOHAMEDSCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
QNS
Queens District Attorney Melinda
Katz and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic
joined students of Townsend Harris
High School in Kew Gardens Hills on
Monday, April 12, for the unveiling of a
mural design and painting project led by
Queens artist Anthony Posada.
The first-ever community-created
Inclusive Safety Mural is a project by
genEquality, a research-driven nonprofi
t organization focused on activating
equality and inclusion through art and
culture.Th e Inclusive Safety Mural Series
(ISMS) brings together artists, students,
educators and residents to collaboratively
design and create murals that promote
inclusive safety, according to the organization.
Th e initiative’s fi rst fi ve murals
— one in each borough of New York City
— are being unveiled throughout April,
which is Sexual Assault Awareness and
Prevention Month.
“It’s been very moving to witness how
the students and artists have grappled
with what inclusive safety means for
their community, and how to visually
represent it through art,” said Sophia
Lajaunie, director of the Inclusive Safety
Mural Series. “At a time when violence
and harassment are on the rise and aft er
all the hardships of this past year, we
hope these murals inspire a genuine sense
of belonging, inclusion, and well-being in
their communities and across New York
City.”
Veronica York, assistant principal of
PPS, Music and Art at Townsend Harris
High School, thanked genEquality, teachers
and Posada for his artistic vision and
sculpting ideas into art, and also their
“talented and optimistic” students who
York says are going to change the world.
“We took on this project with great enthusiasm
because it speaks to who we are:
Townsend students identify as 65 percent
female, over 50 percent fi rst generation,
52 percent economically disadvantaged,
Students of Townsend Harris High School stand in front of the completed mural with elected offi cials, school administrators, and project directors.
and we speak over 40 diff erent languages,”
York said. “In this diversity, we all deserve
to be seen. Inclusion is the only way forward,
and this mural tells all students:
‘We see you! We celebrate you! You belong
here!’”
According to Posada, co-creating the
mural with the students was an incredible
experience that allowed them to collectively
meditate on the themes of safety
and community while working to depict
those through art.
“In times of social unrest when discrimination
and hate are on the rise,
projects like the Inclusive Safety Mural
Series from genEquality are necessary to
disrupt the narrative of pessimism and
despair,” Posada said. “Art provides a
restorative and healing energy that promotes
positive change by uniting us, by
empowering us and by helping us take a
stand against violence to inspire inclusion
and community.”
As an organization, genEquality has
always been deeply committed to ending
gender-based and identity-based harassment
and violence, as they have been
especially concerned about reports of
rising harassment and violence since the
COVID-19 pandemic began, according
to Sherry Hakimi, executive director of
genEquality.
“We felt compelled to create a program
that leverages creativity and community
to change our culture towards that of
Inclusive Safety — a culture in which
Courtesy of genEquality
you feel safe no matter what you look like,
where you’re from, and how you identify,”
Hakimi said. “Th at’s the spirit in which
the Inclusive Safety Mural Series was
born, and in which we hope to scale it
throughout NYC and nationally.”
Katz and Rozic commended Hakimi
and Lajaunie for bringing together local
artists, educators, students and residents
to creatively represent their shared commitment
to the value of an inclusive
community.
“As Queens district attorney, it is my
responsibility to protect and seek justice
for survivors of gender-based violence. It
is inspiring that the fi rst installation of
the citywide Inclusive Safety Mural Series
is in the borough of Queens at Townsend
Harris High School and fi tting that we
set the bar for murals to come throughout
the city,” Katz said. “Th is mural is a
reminder Queens is stronger and safer
when we stand together.”
Meanwhile, Rozic said she is incredibly
proud of the way Queens showed up to
stand in solidarity with those who have
been harmed and targeted because of
identity-based and gender-based ignorance
and violence over the past year.
“Today’s mural unveiling at Townsend
Harris High School is another testament
to our commitment to inclusivity, and I
thank genEquality and artist Anthony
Posada for working with our local community
to send a message that hate has
no place here,” Rozic said.
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