Inspired by cultural values, artistic process, and resource preservation, the Hispanic Student Association (HSA) pursued an innovative art project that would highlight the strength and resilience of the Hispanic community. Six months prior, the HSA had a vision to create an impactful mural representing Hispanic culture by collecting and gluing bottle caps to a cardboard canvas. Following the completion of the mural, the association held an inauguration ceremony on Friday, May 16 to celebrate the impact of the mural on the student body and reap their hard-earned work.

In a display of leadership and cultural connection, HSA President Maria Rincon ‘27 pitched the mural. The members of the association, invigorated with the new project, reunited every week in HSA Sponsor and Art teacher Ms. Madeline Picket’s room, dedicating every possible moment to contribute to the creation of the mural, often resulting in hot glue burns. In a world riddled with discrimination, setbacks, and hardships that target the Hispanic community, the mural was not only made to be a symbol of diversity and culture, but also of hope and perseverance in the current political climate.

“I feel like the mural represents a spark of hope,” Rincon said. “Right now I may sound like I’m not scared, but I am. Even though I have the luck of being accepted and not suffering any legal issues, I know not all of the people in my community are, so I want this mural to inspire [members of the Hispanic community] to not be afraid of showing their culture because I feel like we all are [afraid]. There shouldn’t be a reason why a person should hide their birth country or their culture because that’s part of who they are. This mural, to me, aspires to remind them of who they are and why they came here.”

Inspired by multiple artworks made by Hispanic artists, HSA knew they wanted to represent their cultural heritage with a mural. To bring cultural awareness to the walls of Westwood, they portrayed their message through the flexible expression of art.

“I feel like art portrays how people feel rather than what they do and allows a way for people to escape their reality without needing to move,” Rincon said. “People can be restricted by what their political, legal, or financial situation is, and the mural is a way for our community to express themselves and spread their culture without needing to do anything.”

To begin the ambitious project, multiple concepts were sketched by Rincon. Her artistic passion allowed her to create the final thumbnail sketch: depicting a dancing lady with various Hispanic countries on her skirt, adding splashes of color to spread the message of cultural diversity to the student body.

“First I sketched out the [design] on a large cardboard paper, and then we painted it all with the members,” Rincon said. “After that we went through the long process of sticking lids on the mirror. I plan to put [the mural] somewhere around the school because I want it to be a symbol for Hispanic students and even non-Hispanic students who walk by to think about how many hands helped make the mural and to serve as a reminder that everyone should be treated as equals and have the same opportunities.”

Not only did the production of a mural on such a large scale require constant determination and perseverance to complete it, but also fostered and created deep and meaningful connections between the members of HSA, giving emotional purpose to the mural.

“I feel like this is my community, and there are so many people here from every [Hispanic] country,” Ana Loaiza ‘27 said. “This makes me [proud] to be a part of Latin America while working on the mural. This mural means a lot to me because there are so many dedicated people that come after school to work on this, and you can find friends and good people through this club.”

In order to properly assemble the mural in their image, HSA recycled hundreds of plastic bottle caps of different colors to glue onto the mural, matching the cap color to the paint on the cardboard. The members each took home Kleenex boxes to fill with lids from plastic water bottles, shampoo pump bottles, or glass jars. The students then came back to school, and after sorting the lids by color, they began the assembly process. Students outside of HSA were also given the opportunity to contribute by recycling their plastic lids in “Drop Your Lid” boxes that were placed around the school by HSA, allowing other students and teachers to be included in the initiative.

“I would say the hardest parts of [assembling] the mural is that it’s time-consuming and worrying about the amount of lids we had, but the overall process was fun,” Vice President Darioly Rosario ‘27 said. “I feel like the fact that we’re all together making [the mural] is not just a bunch of kids coming together, but a bunch of countries coming together to make a cultural impact in our school.”

Many teachers were influenced by the intensive project as they gazed upon the mural. The effective teamwork, labor, and passion that went into the culmination of the mural allowed for teachers to be inspired as well.

“This is at the heart of why I went into education,” Picket said. “I wanted to be able to create spaces for kids to be creative, celebrate being who they are, and build community.”

Amidst the harsh academic climate and stress that Westwood students go through, the HSA members are given a place of tranquility when working on the mural after school. As they talked about their day, made jokes, and played music, the members were reminded that all their hard work will be worth it in the end.

“It hasn’t been easy at all,” Rincon said. “Students are exposed to a constant level of stress that may not make people as friendly as you want them to be, but when the members come here to the meetings, everyone feels united. They’re like family and it’s such a heart touching thing to me. When they enter the classroom, all the stress from bad days go away.”

After the officers gave their speeches in the inauguration ceremony and commemorated the completion of the mural, the members celebrated their achievement by dancing to Spanish songs and eating food brought by volunteers. Through their determination, they highlighted the importance of cultural diversity, recycling, and representation, giving a voice to the Hispanic community at Westwood.

“Nothing is impossible, and I want people to be inspired to be themselves,” Rincon said. “We have multiple members that don’t fully speak English, and because of that, they might feel like they’re not as important as a person who speaks English, which is completely wrong. They have the same amount of potential that a bilingual person has and with this mural, we want to remind them that they are important, included, and represented.”