Every semester, BCL partners with an artist-in-residence. Early on in the semester, students use art to think creatively. As the weeks unfold, they explore the artist’s specific medium, as well as how public art can catalyze social change.

Each semester is different. Some art projects expand our minds, others illustrate what matters. Some projects elevate stories, others help us appreciate the place we call home. Recently, BCL13’s interactive theater piece invited the audience to be active participants in an immersive experience.

BCL14’s art project was both novel and practical, both expansive and hands-on. From January to May, students apprenticed as screen printers. Our guide was Brit Mae, a local screen printer who is both a creative force and a chill friend. Passionate about her medium, she helped students understand how intimately screen printing has been tied to historical social change movements. We studied logos, marketing and messaging. The project also naturally connected to our ongoing exploration of the culture, economy, ethics, and impact of the fashion industry.

In the first few sessions with Brit, we tried our hand at screen printing on paper. From there, we made collages that Brit transformed into a collective logo. We then designed their own personal logos, which we printed on shirts.

Once we were familiar with the art form, we began to envision a larger, collective piece — a mural of interlocking screen-printed images, arrayed on plywood, mounted on a wall. But even as the piece came into focus, it wasn’t yet clear how or where it would be displayed. The answer emerged from a meeting at City Hall with Kara Alnasrawi, the Director of Church Street Marketplace. In that meeting, we found ourselves discussing the power of public art to welcome, to inspire, and to communicate a sense of collective care. It clear that this is what Burlington needs more of…and Kara wondered out loud if she might have a wall we could use. This kind of kismet can never be predicted, but in the Burlington City & Lake Semester program, it feels familiar. Countless opportunities grow from relationships. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

Is the mural beautiful? Yes. Truly, the art piece is magnificent. But at the end of the day, the product matters far less than the process. The good news is that for BCL14, the experience was just as beautiful.

Art is one of the things that separates the basic from the unique, and the ordinary from creative….Art is the spice of creativity, and we have also delved deeper into the meaning behind that during our experiences.

For our BCL collective community art project, I want the art piece itself to actually inspire our community in such a way that it can thrive much more than it is now. Our art piece should be a testament to the future (us), and just how much of an impact we can actually have on the potential of our city, culture, and life itself… I think the experience we had that helped understand the meaning of art the most was when we explored what it really takes for Church Street to thrive, because it needs to be beautiful to thrive! 

• Harper

What does it take for a community to thrive? I think it takes courage. When we went downtown as a class, and imagined changing the whole landscape and structure of our city, we made decisions on paper to reimagine what it would take for our city to thrive…

I think that the piece we are adding to downtown will bring together the community, so we are knit tighter during a time of need. The symbolism of our piece is strong. Our theme is community care, and having a mural installed in the heart of the city during a time of struggle, with the housing crisis and other issues, means a lot. Everyone needs to care for each other in order for us to thrive, and that is the message we are spreading.

I want this art project to be something more than a class assignment. I want it to be a legacy. Something that people see and think about the community they are a part of by living in Burlington. Something that makes people strive to be better to those around them. A place of hope. Hands of Hope.

• Hayden

Most of what we have done in these past weeks in BCL has deepened my thinking of What it takes for a community to thrive. When we were talking about third spaces and met to talk about the future of the New North End, it showed me just how much people need shared space to make it livable. The way a space looks and feels determines the people who use it. 

In BCL, we have looked into the importance of art and the many ways it speaks for itself. With screen printing and exploring logos with Brit, it made me realize that art isn’t there just to be pretty, but it can also be there for a purpose. For our piece of art, the main goal I see is to bring people together. I think that’s what our community needs – not only downtown, but everywhere. We have talked about how downtown is struggling, and adding more art will help with that issue. With BCL, we want our community to thrive, and by adding a welcoming, warming, awesome piece of art to somewhere so public, the community can get closer to our goal.  

• Izzy

I want our art project to gather eyes. I want people to see it as a community project – not just BCL, but something we did together with community partners, because we also worked with other community members on these ideas, and they allowed us to have these experiences with them. . We put our hands together to do our best for our community, for Burlington. I also think it will help the community thrive by adding more color and shedding light on BCL and the work we do.

A big theme is connection to community, because we do a lot for the community and the community does a lot for us. Love is also a big theme, definitely. We put a lot of thought and love into this art piece. Also everyone loves us too, and we share love with the world through this piece. I hope it inspires people to work together and have faith in our city.

• Sokhna

The art project that we are making [represents] our community thriving because it highlights the connectedness of our city. The hands intertwined in a circle visually represent both the BCL community and Burlington’s community.

I also noticed that our mural connects with our study of vulnerability… The work itself is not that vulnerable, but when we put it out into the world, for friends, family and random strangers it becomes vulnerable. 

• Amelia

Our biggest question – What does it take for a community to thrive? – has had a huge impact on our art and what it will look like in our mural. A simple and quick answer to this question is having a strong and tightly knit community. [This leads] to the ideas of kindness and caring for others…

I want our art project to promote the BCL values. I want our project to not only display values such as love, community, humanity, and joy, but also inspire others to live by them as well… This creates a really interesting full circle moment, because we started the project to try to help the community thrive, and by spreading these values we manage to do just that, which I believe is the whole purpose of BCL.

• Jimmy

For a community to thrive there needs to be some sort of connection…something that brings people together. When we met with all of the Church Street Marketplace business owners, it gave me a real perspective of how small our community is, and how those people are just like everyone else. Our art piece’s honeycomb symbolizes the ways that we all connect. In the mural, each piece of honeycomb comes together to create one larger thing– one cohesive piece that has a centerpiece of interlocked arms symbolizing strength in community. 

By throwing a community event to unveil this piece that represents the community, we show our full support for not only our BCL community but the larger community of Burlington that we are living in. People are stronger together.

• Finn

I think our art piece will bring hope to Burlington and surrounding communities.

• Tyler

Visiting studios and learning screen printing showed me how art connects people and creates shared spaces. Exploring third spaces like the library and BTC helped me see the importance of inclusion and belonging. Studying Church St. and the fashion industry made me think about sustainability and equity. All of this has shaped our art project. It’s not just creative, it’s about making something that reflects and supports our community.

I want our art to bring people together and spark conversation. Through the community art event, I hope people feel a sense of connection and maybe even belonging. Our project can show Burlington’s values through the eyes of the students, and help people focus on inclusion, equity, and care. If our art can make someone feel more connected to where they are and who they are around, then I think we have done something meaningful and fulfilling for the community.

• Jude

One BCL experience that deepened my thinking about what it means for a community to thrive is when we all put our heads together at City Hall and came up with new ideas on how to improve the New North End. Not only did the students work on solving this issue but so did community leaders. It showed me how important it is to collaborate, communicate and build goals as a community. Another experience that influenced the art piece was when we met with Neil Preston, and he talked about how important unity and inclusion is. That conversation reminded me about how important it is for a thriving community to value every member, set goals as a community, and grow together.

I want our art project to inspire others and remind everyone that no matter our differences, we all have one thing in common, and that’s our community. By coming together to create this art piece we are showing community, care, deep learning, and hope. During the event I hope people feel connected, moved, and motivated to make a change.

• Kali

I find myself thinking about our time meeting with Kara Alnasrawi about the downtown marketplace. Church Street to me is the heart and soul of Burlington. A lot of people go there and it is a big open public space. I think If we can find success on Church Street, then we can slowly find that success everywhere around Burlington. As someone who has lived in Burlington my whole life, I want to see Church Street thriving so it’s important to me that this art piece can help with that. 

I want our art piece to inspire. As a class, we all put in a lot of work individually and collectively. For the background of the piece the honeycombs will represent each student and their own version of what community care means to them. I think having this piece up on church street will enhance more art on church street and hopefully draw attention to BCL and BHS students. Overall, at the event I want to see everyone smiling, eating, engaged, and having fun…and giving off the feeling of community care.

 

• Quinn

When I’m thinking about what it takes for a community to thrive, I think about things that can bring a community together.  And something that fits that very description would be art created by the community. It could be admired by the community, and could also be a symbol that represents the community and what it stands for. 

I would like our art project to represent not just the students of BCL, but also Vermont as a whole. One of our BCL values is hope, and I think that our artwork should be centered around that very word. And I’m also pretty sure that the title of our artwork is going to be Hands of Hope so I think that the theme of hope would be very fitting.

• Thomas

In order for a community to thrive, I think it takes everyone doing their part. One experience we had that feels connected to this is when we were at HULA. While we were there, we were talking about sustainability, and learned about the Cora Ball that helps keep the lake free of microfibers. It is a small thing, but it can help. It wasn’t only just that experience – everything we have done this semester helps our community in so many ways .

• Keshon

There are many aspects that are imperative for a community to thrive, including empathy, inclusion, sense of place, and fun. When BCL met with Kara Alnasrawi and various city planners at City Hall, it felt impactful, because we were able to consult and observe places of gathering and third spaces which act as vessels for these core values.

Another experience that has been revolutionary for my line of thinking was our walk with Neil Preston earlier in the semester. I realized that no matter what someone is going through, we are all human and everyone faces a unique set of circumstances. We should all try to see through each other’s perspectives and extend our levels of empathy. Both of these great BCL experiences greatly contributed to the creation of our mural, because our meeting with the Church St. planners and Kara allowed us to come to the conclusion that it would be very beneficial for Burlington to have more public art to really tighten the knitting in the downtown/Burlington community. I also think that our walk with Neil contributed to the project because our project shows how we are all ONE community no matter what and we will stand with one another, and that’s what Neil thought the community needed. 

• Eli

In my opinion, what it takes for a community to thrive is togetherness: events, group activities, and community spaces. My writing in BCL has really helped me see how important togetherness is, and really strengthened my thinking. Nearly everything I have written has the idea of togetherness in it. When we did group activities that helped us design our own individual art pieces, it helped me really see what everyone in our group was thinking. Knowing what everyone made me think about how all of our ideas can be mixed together. This togetherness helped the overall piece. 

• Nasra

I think the most important part of our event was the moment we revealed our piece, because it was really meaningful to everybody. Everybody looked like they enjoyed the moment, and it was super beautiful, and I think everybody really liked it and enjoyed it. Everyone loved it.

• Sokhna

The art event was really great for me, I loved how much the community came together. I think the reveal and interview, my two main tasks, went as well as I could have hoped for. The most memorable moment for me was the reveal itself, because that is what we have worked towards for weeks, and it was really satisfying to finally complete. Overall, I think that everyone had a really great time. We definitely met our goals of bringing the community together and having a lot of fun.

• Jimmy

The art event today for me was really fun. I really liked connecting with everyone and I feel like this brought us together. I also got brought closer to community partners and Admin from BHS. I loved talking to Clare Wool and Signe Daily, because they told me that what we are doing is changing the community. Our goal was to bring everyone together and I think we definitely did achieve that. 

• Kali

The art event was a new experience for me and I really enjoyed it. It was nice seeing other people interested in our artwork. And we also got to give away food to the homeless people as well and it felt good to do that. I think we definitely met our goals because in my opinion, the alleyway was jam packed, and people printed some of their own tees as well.

• Thomas

I think the art event went great! For me I was scooping ice cream and got to talk with many different people. Also, seeing all the community partners who we have worked with come support us was really fun. 

• Quinn

It was really fun and I had an amazing time. I wasn’t expecting that many people to come! It was amazing to see people’s reactions, such as random people walking by taking photos and just asking questions. It was also amazing seeing a struggling Burlington community thrive. For example, yesterday, people who didn’t even know about the event were just happy to get free food and free t-shirts.  With the event being on Church Street, I was worried about homeless individuals and drug users having a problem. The only incident that happened was that a woman was having an intense moment and Michael Mitchell (BPD) and Neil Preston (Parks) helped this individual.  It shows how much they care about our community. Seeing them do their work in the open was impactful. 

Although the mural is only temporary (it will move to the high school once it is finished), it still shows how students can make a community a better place through art. This is true for our own community too. In the crafting stage, it showed how a group of people who didn’t really talk to each other that much before BCL can come close together through the creation of art. 

• Keshon

I have three words: Heartwarming, because hardly anyone was on their phone. Amazing, because the mayor showed up at the event. Nice, because my family showed up and we’re really proud of me.

• Tyler

It was super fun to connect with a bunch of different people. I loved the atmosphere and attention the art piece received from the community. I was super surprised to be thrown into an interview, but it was great. We were able to give hope and inspiration for the future generations, and the future of our city and state. We definitely met our goal of having youth have an art piece in the heart of Burlington.

• Byron

The event was so much fun for me. I loved the music and the live screen printing which kind of showed the audience how me made our mural. We were able to convey our message about community care, while also bringing together a diverse group of community members. There were many familiar faces and community partners, but I also loved that complete strangers came to the event and still had a good time. It was a place where everyone was sort of in the same boat and it really brought all levels of the community together. 

• Eli

Additional press coverage on WCAX’s website