Students Jayce Alicea and Jayden Burgos paint a flower as part of the mural at Memorial School.
Reminder Publishing photos by Sarah Heinonen
WEST SPRINGFIELD — A couple weeks ago, people who walked into Memorial Elementary School saw red brick walls with cream-colored cinderblock. Now, visitors, students and staff are greeted with the sight of a peace sign, hearts floating up the wall and a reminder to “Bee Kind.” Further down the hallway is a blue dog with spots, a rocket ship, a basketball wearing a graduation cap, more bees and a school bus. What makes this piece of art more than just a mural is that the images all came from the students’ imaginations.
Funded by a grant from the West Springfield Cultural Council, Principal Karen Albano reached out to artist Ramiro Davaro-Comas, whom she had worked with in a different school district. He hosted a workshop with art teacher Whitney Weldon’s students in December of 2025. Weldon explained that her students in grades 1-5 drew pictures themed around their school. Davaro-Comas scanned each picture and, after selecting a manageable number of images, created a digital collage.
Choosing which of the more than 200 images to include was a challenge. “I was just following the themes,” Davaro-Comas said. For example, Memorial’s mascot is a bee. He said, “The goal is to create as many images that the students can connect to.” He included the drawings of as many students as possible.
On Feb. 3, the art was sketched on the wall in pencil. From there, Davaro-Comas, an assistant and Weldon’s students got to work with brushes and paint. All day long, different grades rotated through the hallway. Even those students whose artwork was not included were able to contribute to the mural. About 100 kids painted on the first day, with a similar number contributing their artistic skills on day two of the project. “They’re taking it so seriously,” Weldon said.
Davaro-Comas said the students got to see how important collaboration is. Weldon explained that one student would figure out a better way to paint something and would share it with the person next to them, transmitting it down the line of students working on the wall.
Throughout the project, Davaro-Comas said different children told him, “I feel really calm,” “I love painting,” “I want to do this all the time” and “I want to be an artist.” He said, “It’s huge for their self-esteem,” and it drives home the message that “you do not need a cell phone to do stuff. They can work with their hands and create stuff.” He also said the mural of student-created art sends a message to staff and families that Albano, a relatively new principal, “cares” about the school and the students.
Reflecting on the impact of the art, Davaro-Comas said, “When you look at a child’s drawing, that makes people hopeful.” Weldon agreed, saying, “There’s no way people are going to look at this and not feel something. The kids here are pure magic.”
Left: Artist Ramiro Davaro-Comas fills in the details of the mural. Right: An unfinished section of the hallway mural at Memorial School after the first day of painting.
Reminder Publishing photos by Sarah Heinonen
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