Rising Sea Level Motivates Students to Plan Activist Project

A mural on Southern Maine Community College would not only raise awareness on the damaging effects of climate change, but it would also bring the artistic students working on the project together, creating a sense of community. This project would require an advisor willing to participate, help supply materials as well as getting approval from the school about which wall it would  be allowed on. The mural project takes careful planning and about five to ten responsible, creative students to get involved. 

After interviewing multiple students, the Beacon heard nothing but positive feedback about wanting a project like this to take place on campus. Jessica Spoto says that she would be more than happy to help aid its process. She says she’d also be able to bring a friend that would be excited to join as well. Kat Fitz is also an SMCC student with a love for the visual arts, she says “it’s important to keep art around to help feel emotion, it sparks something in you.” She is also more than willing to get involved. The act of creating art to bring about awareness makes the mural that much more powerful. Another student, Ella Quigg, has also volunteered to help the mural project along. She says that she loves birds, and that she’d be happy to make them come alive on a wall on campus. “A piece like that on campus about something so important, would make campus a place I actually want to come back to just to look at and admire.” She says she’d feel a sense of pride, being able to raise awareness and create simultaneously. 

This mural would be an important conversation starter, getting the students educated on the rising sea level and its damaging effects to the surrounding habitats. Endangered seabirds like the Piping Plover, Saltmarsh Sparrow, and Roseate Tern and hundreds of other species will be affected. Not only is it affecting the homes of animals and plants, it also causes flooding and runoff into unwanted areas around the beach. The beaches and sand dunes protect the shoreline and with the rising sea-level a process called overwash occurs. High tides and storm surges cause the sand to be pulled back into the ocean. The sediment is limited and since there is no room for the sand to migrate, the erosion process will happen at a more rapid rate. This means the beach will eventually get completely swallowed. 

Ethan Parisien, Liberal Arts major spoke about how he would feel about a mural on campus that specifically correlates to the current environmental issues. He explained that he would be interested to see how the group of students could convey that message through art. The mural’s details aren’t completely planned out, however one major idea is painting the ocean shore with its current inhabitants full of life on one side, and what the future of the shore will look like on the other. This contrast of present and future demonstrates the gloom and destruction that will ensue.  

There have been at least six students willing to get involved in the mural. Every person asked so far has given an extremely positive response. Most have not realized the rise in sea level, or the damaging effects that climate change is having on Maine’s shores. This mural will get more students talking and asking questions about the current issues. The wall will educate but in a creative, fun way, and also helps participating students with time management skills. This mural has the capability to turn an ugly, boring wall into something beautiful, with a subject that a few big-hearted students want to raise awareness on. 

If any teachers are willing to aid this mural project, please feel free to reach out to my email: Feliciapblackstone@smccme.edu