Artist, Students Create Pride Mural at Ossining High School

When staff and students walk into Ossining High School this week, they will find colorful new artwork on the wall across from the row of international flags.

Artist Joe Pimentel of Newburgh created a 30-foot mural that is designed around the district’s new tagline: Pride in all that we are. It highlights the district’s diversity by incorporating the flags into the design. Flags unfurl from the Ossining O in the center of the mural, and circles with symbols and colors from the flags are painted on each side.

A group of students spent the last week of summer vacation painting the mural. “I liked painting when I was little, so I said, ‘Why not?’” when OHS staff asked if she would work on the project, said sophomore Alessandra Gutierrez, 15.

“I like the mural a lot,” she said. “He’s a really good artist.”

The mural was funded by a grant from the Ossining MATTERS Education Foundation to enhance the look of the school and convey the importance of inclusiveness and diversity at OHS.

Mr. Pimentel, who lives in Newburgh, said the OHS project was his 26th collaborative school mural. He has worked with children in schools in the Hudson Valley, New Jersey and Connecticut. By working with students, they learn the process for creating a mural and take pride in what they accomplished.

“At the end, they see this giant, colorful mural, and they were a part of it,” he said.

OHS Principal Stephen Hancock said the mural looks “amazing,” and he is in awe of what Mr. Pimentel and the students accomplished in one week.

“This is a reflection mural which captures the images of many of the flags across from it,” he said. “Ossining is rich in diversity and it is something we are proud of and celebrate. Our new brand, pride in all that we are, is the focal point of this mural but it embraces the countries that make up who we are.”

For the students who helped paint the mural, the project piqued their interest in the arts, the principal said. “Students who may not have taken many of our art classes left this experience wanting to add some sort of art class to their schedule,” he said.

Sophomore Dayana Maya, 16, said painting the mural was fun, and it beat “being home and doing nothing.”

She and other students said they liked Mr. Pimentel’s artwork. “It’s really impressive,” said Diana Tapia, 16, a junior.

Sophomore Jose Velasquez, 16, said he enjoyed painting and collaborating with fellow students and the artist. “It feels good working on it,” he said. “They should give him more jobs so we can learn more.”

The other students who worked on the mural include Kimberly Aulla, Mario Castro, Leslie Boni, Daniel Watson and Jennyfer Quezada.