Special to the Record
When you walk into the Chelsea High School Library, you can’t help but notice a large mural filled with color, light and intrigue to the left of the circulation desk. Hanging high above the sights and sounds of CHS students hard at work, the mural titled “Our Story in the Sky” is a new addition to the library, created and painted by current senior Jasmine (Jay) Velasquez ’25.
unveiling of the new mural created by Jasmine Velasquez.
a showcase how diverse and similar the CHS experience is.
“I’ve always wanted to create a mural for CHS since freshman year to showcase how diverse yet how similar our experience at CHS is,” Velasquez commented. “After taking Ms. Augspurg’s class and working with a lot of color in her course, I loved the use of bright colors because it made me feel at peace and I wanted to share that with the rest of CHS.”
The mural is abstract in nature, designed for viewers to develop their own individual meaning from its content. Painted on the mural is an open book that reads “Name, Strength, Story” in large letters on the bottom of one page and Chelsea Public Schools on the next. A closer inspection reveals three powerful quotes from two Latin singers (Luis Fonsi and Selena Quintanilla) and one Latin author (Michelle Herrera Mulligan). Quintanilla’s reads, “If you have a dream, don’t let anybody take it away.”
The book is lying on a field of grass with a large tree with pink foliage off to the left. Four doves are flying as if emerging from the book. The background includes a sun at the bottom of the horizon, emanating colors of yellow, orange and red. The clouds in the sky share a similar hue, with some darker tones mixed in.
“I want them [students] to feel represented in a way, I use quotes from Latinos because we have a lot of Latino students, the doves represent one growing and leaving the high school prepared for what comes next. I just want the students to feel represented and know that CHS is a place you can be safe and comfortable in.”
Velasquez developed the idea for the mural when she took Ms. Alecia Augspurg’s Drawing and Painting Realism course in the Fall of 2023, the start of her junior year at CHS. During the class, she expressed interest in making a permanent piece of art for the school. From there, she created a proposal sketch that was approved by CHS administration. An independent study with Ms. Augspurg was arranged for the second semester of her junior year (Spring of 2024) so she could receive credit for the mural, and the work began from there.
“I showed her how to prepare the canvas, provided materials and gave her some feedback from time to time. But, the painting was made truly independently,” Ms. Augspurg commented. “She worked on it in the library every weekday during the first period for most of the second semester, finishing right before the end of the year. I am so glad to see it installed now in a place where the whole CHS community will get to enjoy it for years to come.”
The mural was unveiled to the CHS community in a special ceremony on Friday, December 13. Jay and Ms. Augspurg spoke to a gathering of family, friends, classmates and CHS staff in the library. After addressing the crowd, Velasquez climbed a ladder to remove a sheet covering the mural, revealing its design for all to see. The collective gasp and awe from the crowd conveyed the powerful imagery the mural adds to the space. The painting will hang in the library for years to come, set to inspire new waves of CHS students.