East End Arts Brings Together Area Students To Recognize Black History Month

East End Arts presented mosaic murals made by more than 200 high school students from across the East End at their annual Martin Luther King Jr. portrait project and auction this weekend. The exhibition, held at the East End Food Market at 139 Main Road in Riverhead, acknowledged Black History Month by honoring civil rights activists through murals and celebrating unity through artistic collaboration.

Every year, East End Arts, a Riverhead based nonprofit school for art and music, inspires local high school students to participate in a unique community project honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. through their annual MLK Project and Auction.

High schools across the East End of Long Island are invited to create large mosaic portraits of civil rights leaders in honor of Black History Month. Each unique piece consists of 16 individual panels, united. First, a class must choose a civil rights activist. Once chosen, the students sketch up a vague outline on 16 panels. Then, they take the canvases home and individually work on their masterpieces. The works then come together as a collection for the public to enjoy.

“We wanted to use art as a way for people to connect,” Diane Burke, executive director of East End Arts said, adding that the exhibition brings students from across the East End together under the same roof. “We wanted to do something for the community and honor Martin Luther King Jr. and civil rights activists.”

This year’s fifteen 4-foot-by-4-foot mosaic portraits featuring Mahalia Jackson, Rosa Parks, Sam Cooke, Nina Simone, Maya Angelou, John Lewis, and Aretha Franklin will be on view every Saturday from February 18 to March 4, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Each portrait is up for auction through March 4 at 5 p.m. to support the East End Arts scholarship fund. Community members are welcomed to vote for their favorite mural and the winner will be announced on March 4 at 1 p.m. The winner will receive a scholarship.

Emelynne Cressy, a junior at Center Moriches High School, collaborated with her art class to honor Maya Angelou — poet, memoirist, and civil right activist.

“I was very happy to participate in this project and celebrate the life of civil rights activist and icon Maya Angelo,” Cressy said to the audience during the exhibit. “While painting my square of the portrait, I felt very honored to represent an inspiring and strong woman. Everyone that was a part of the project was so incredible.”

During COVID, Kathleen Dwyer Ruscick, the education director of East End Arts, wanted to create an art project that various local schools could do individually, and then bring together. The first year, all the students honored Martin Luther King Jr., putting their individual spin on mosaic murals of the civil rights leader.

This year, being the third year of the program, East End Arts switched it up and included multiple figures from the civil rights movement and expanded the project, Ruscick explained.

Each school chose their own subject to paint who worked toward equality and the civil rights movement.

Once complete, the mosaic portraits first hang in their corresponding schools and then are displayed in the exhibition to be viewed by the community and bid on. The originals are sold at auction and the proceeds support the East End Arts & Music School scholarship for art and music students, and students in need of financial assistance.

“The process was really rewarding because everyone painted a square and finally putting it together was so interesting because we all did something very different,” Kate Samlihan a student at William Floyd High School, said of her school’s painting of Sam Cooke, singer, songwriter, and activist. “He is also known as the king of soul. He wrote his most famous song about being turned away from a motel in Louisiana because of his race. He wrote songs about the civil rights movement and his journey.”

Hailey Green, a student at William Floyd High School, said after completing their individual squares, the students brought in each piece, aligned them together as a mosaic, and added their own finishing touches before displaying in the exhibit. “At the end, when everything was put together, you could see paint markers, textures, different colors, and blending which came together to make a wonderful mural.”

“As an artist who usually works by myself, it was interesting to collaborate with other artists and I thought it was important to work on a painting of someone who has such historical importance and worked to be an advocate for civil rights,” Julia Hamdi of Comsewogue High School said of their Nina Simone painting.

Gianna DiDomenica, a junior at Comsewogue High School said it was interesting to see everyone’s style come together at the end.

“It was overall a great experience working on the mural,” said Marina Pica of Comsewogue High School. “Especially how it came together at the end. We all had totally different ideas, but in the end, it came out beautifully.”

“Our motto is ‘unlock creativity, build community’ and this exhibit checks those boxes,’” Burke said.