The Washington Community Scholars’ Center (WCSC) unveiled a vibrant, student-created mural on the side of the Nelson Good House, supported and funded by an EMU Inclusive Excellence Grant from the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
The mural was the result of a collaboration between WCSC staff and Spring 2025 students in an effort to counter narratives of exclusion and reclaim public space for inclusive representation. The mural also reflects the journey of WCSC students from EMU into D.C. and the impact that life in the city has on them.
Spearheaded by WCSC’s artistic genius and associate director of student life and program administration, Ann Butwell, the mural project was a semester-long effort that invited deep reflection and creative expression from all involved. More than a visual installation, it became a community-building experience rooted in storytelling, identity, and social justice.
“The mural encapsulates the experience students have in putting together the pieces of their journey through the city,” said Butwell. “The community response has been overwhelmingly positive; 25 neighbors have taken the time to have conversations with us. They are excited about having a new piece of local, communal art, and they are feeling inspired to do something similar to their property.”
The mural features several student-designed elements, including a striking image of a woman originally doodled on a whiteboard by WCSC student Genesis Figueroa. When staff saw the sketch the next morning, it immediately inspired the final composition and became one of its central figures. The mural also bears a powerful message—“May you never forget how desperately the world needs you”—a quote contributed by WCSC student Meredith Lehman ’25 and selected from several options she proposed.
“The mural was an opportunity to showcase the diversity and different parts of the city everyone captured during the semester,” said one student participant. Another shared, “Working on the mural made me feel like a part of me will always be in D.C.”
The piece culminates in a symbolic garden—not filled with painted flowers, but with the handprints of WCSC students and staff, representing their shared labor, presence, and legacy.
By transforming a blank wall into a bold statement of inclusion and solidarity, the WCSC mural stands as a lasting reminder of the center’s mission: to cultivate justice, community, and intercultural understanding through lived experience and creative collaboration.
Check out the WCSC Instagram account to see what our students are up to!
What a profound piece of art! Beautiful, bright and inclusive of differing gifts and the valuing of each human being. I love how the neighbors responded as well. Such a wonderful way to connect to others .
Seeing this makes my heart sing in this time when there is so much destruction of what is good.
I was part of the first year of WCSC–then known as WSSY. I am glad this place and way of learning continues and remains an organic place in WDC.
Yes: ” The World Needs you.”
Ryan, thanks for your continuing leadership.
Love this. Can’t wait to come by and see it in person.