'SEE ME' To Exhibit Salem Student Art, Showcase Voices At Peabody Essex Museum

SALEM, MA — Four days of Salem student art exhibitions at the Peabody Essex Museum and a day of events showcasing student voice are part of the "SEE ME" initiative designed to capture the district's core values of belonging, equity and opportunity through the expression of student voices.

The four-day pop-up art exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum will include Salem student drawings, paintings, photography, poetry and videos that share elements of how Salem youth see their history and how their cultures have shaped them.

The exhibit will include words from students from kindergarten to seniors in high school and is aimed at showing how they see themselves walking through the world in the present and how they can influence their future.

The works will be displayed throughout the museum from May 19 through May 22.

"I'm really proud of what our students have produced, and our staff," Salem Superintendent Steve Zrike said. "It's an opportunity to come and see the amazing talents of our young people."

There will also be two special events showcasing student voices on May 20.

"Raising the Volume of Student Voice" will run from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Morse Auditorium and will feature how Salem Public Schools has taken on the challenge of social inequity through a partnership with the nonprofit Equity Imperative. The Student Voice Project is an effort to amplify students' concerns and help them take action to address them.

From 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. at the Morse Auditorium, "Levering the Power of Student Identity and Voice to Transform School Culture" will include a fireside chat with Zrike, SPS Artist-in-Residence and hip-hop performer Dee-1, Equity Imperative co-Founder and Director of the Student Voice Project Judith Diaz-Rodriguez.

Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, who recently served as Salem's first woman mayor for 16 years, will deliver opening remarks at the 1:30 p.m. showcase.

The public is invited to both the pop-up exhibition and the student voice showcases.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)