Powerful student-created murals honor Black culture at Marquette
The artwork, which is displayed in the Black Student Cultural Center, is designed to empower students.
By Anna Wallace, communication intern in the Office of Marketing and Communication
“Art is culture, and it sets the precedent and mindset of a population.”
So says senior Marquette student Emmanuel Johnson who, with fellow senior Mario Hamilton, created a new pair of captivating murals meant to honor Black culture on campus.
The murals, on display in the university’s Black Student Cultural Center (temporarily housed in rooms 182 and 184 of Humphrey Hall) are a collaboration that was initiated by the artists in cooperation with the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion, the Haggerty Museum of Art, and the Black Student Union.
Johnson’s mural depicts noted Black leaders Malcom X and Harriet Tubman.
“I wanted to portray Black excellence at its finest, and all of the beauty and power that comes with it,” Johnson says. “I wanted to do this through displaying our most respected, recognized ancestors in Black history.”
Johnson says it was important to him and the Black Student Union that his mural feature at least one man and one woman.
“My mural is full of energy, light and power, because — through the union of Black men and women — we know that anything is possible,” Johnson says.
When it comes to Hamilton’s mural, he says was inspired to capture the Black spirit with a striking image of a black panther that commands attention.
In designing his mural, Hamilton says it was his goal to “create a physical entity of what it means to be in Black presence and the power of being around Black people.”
The murals were created with supplies provided by the Haggerty Museum of Art.
Dr. Joya Crear, assistant vice president for student affairs and soon-to-be acting vice president for inclusive excellence in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, says she visited the cultural center recently to see the murals in person.
“They are absolutely breathtaking,” Crear says. “The two art pieces are excellent examples of the brilliance, vision and creativity that Black students contribute to the Marquette community.”
Both Johnson and Hamilton have lived in Milwaukee for most of their lives and went through the public school system where they eventually entered the same pre-college program. Continuing to follow similar paths, Johnson and Hamilton discovered Marquette’s Educational Opportunity Program and have been making a statement on campus ever since.
The Black Student Cultural Center, where the murals are displayed, is the result of years of work by the Black Student Council and other groups on campus who advocated for such a space on campus. The university is currently fundraising to create a permanent student cultural center on campus for Black students, which will provide mentoring and tutoring. The murals, which are portable, will eventually move to the center’s permanent space.
Johnson and Hamilton say it is incredibly special to showcase their work inside the center, adding that the cultural center is a place where Black students can truly be themselves. They hope center visitors are empowered by their artwork and that it inspires them to realize their potential.
“We’re here and we’ve been fighting for a long time,” Hamilton says. “And we are not the only ones. While being on this campus for three years, I’ve run into a lot of youthful minds who set the foundation for a lot of great things in Marquette’s future. Being around them pushes us to do what we do and affirms our belief that art has the power to transform the world.”
