Left to right: Aaliyah Greaves, Angela Earley Alves and Julia Mauri at the art reception on Jan. 15.
Photo credit: The Friends of the Enfield Library
ENFIELD — The artwork of Enfield High School seniors Julia Mauri and Aaliyah Greaves are displayed at the historic Pearl Street Library.
Their artwork will be available to view and will remain on display until Feb. 9.
Mauri said, “It feels pretty good to have my stuff out there in the world for people other than my friends and family to see. It’s also a good opportunity to explore how people view my art with meaning.”
Greaves responded, “It’s really nice. I like that it’s not just in a school atmosphere and I can show other people my artwork in a different space.”
In 2021, Aimee Sixt, the Pearl Street librarian, proposed getting an art hanging system for the Pearl Street Library so that students from Enfield High School could show their work. She wrote a grant to the Enfield Culture and Arts Commission, and the commission was excited to fund the project. Sixt has worked with the school to arrange for students to display their work on a regular basis. The library has also partnered with the Friends of the Enfield Library who sponsor opening receptions for the shows.
The left shelf is the artwork of Julia Mauri. On the right shelf is Aaliyah Greaves’ paintings at Pearl Street Library. Photo credit: The Friends of the Enfield Library 
On the top is Julia Mauri’s charcoal piece of her and her twin sister. At the bottom is Aaliyah Greave’s artwork of her and her father. Photo credit: The Friends of the Enfield Library 
On the top is Aaliyah Greaves’s artwork. At the bottom is Julia Mauri’s piece. Photo credit: The Friends of the Enfield Library
Art teacher Angela Earley Alves at Enfield High School said, “Julia and Aaliyah’s work goes very well together. All of their work is an empowering example of how to translate memory through the visual arts.”
Greaves excels in charcoal and ceramics. She would describe herself as an emotional artist because a lot of my art is inspired by her family and childhood experiences. Out of her six pieces displayed at the library, there are two that stand out to Greaves. One is where she made two different art pieces of fruit from where her parents are from. Her mother’s family is from Italy and her dad’s family is Barbados, so she did the fruit from each place and put it in each language. The other is a painting of her and her dad because she loves him so much and cherish the bond they have no matter where they are in life.
Greaves said, “My childhood reflects a lot of my artwork, so I want people to see how much I love my family and my life.”
Mauri usually works with paint, colored pencils and collaging. She likes to explore different mediums and see how each works together.
She’s pretty subtle in her meanings of her artwork, but she likes to be as colorful as she can. “I’d like to work in more of a surreal setting with my artwork,” Mauri said. “I like it to be more on the realistic side but still have that fantasy element. I’d like for all my artwork to be a part of me and have it show who I am.”
She loves her charcoal piece called “My Other Half” because she said it shows the bond that she has with her twin sister and that she’s her rock. While her other pieces show her freedom and how she likes to think and create her emotions.
Mauri hopes to major in both psychology and art in college. Art has helped her cope with the realities of life, and she’d like to learn about the scientific aspects of the mind and the brain. For Mauri, she believes the two can merge together and she wants to make a career out of that, so she hopes to be a therapist who works with art to help people cope and heal.
Alves said, “Art is a vital component of contemporary education because it guides students to solve creative problems and enhances their understanding of themselves, each other, and their community. Showcasing student artwork at the historical Pearl Street Library unites the community and brings people together to celebrate the Visual Arts. A special shout out to all staff at the Pearl Street Library, the Friends of the Library and the Enfield Cultural and Arts Commission.”
This year, the schedule is to display students’ artworks from January through June every month with the exception of April. In February, March, May and June, there’ll be a three-person exhibit and all of the students are from Enfield High School Portfolio Prep class.
