Roughly 25 students, teachers and community members gathered at Eastside High School Tuesday afternoon for the unveiling of its new mural.
The mural is the latest painted by Jenna Horner as a part of Mindful Messages: A Mural Movement, a nonprofit organization dedicated to painting murals with uplifting messages in Alachua County schools.
The 200-foot mural highlights the school’s diversity, acknowledging its history of integration. Eastside opened in 1970 to facilitate the integration of Alachua County Public Schools following a U.S. Supreme Court order requiring the school system to desegregate.
The new mural is full of motifs that highlight local nature and the diverse extracurricular activities offered at Eastside. It depicts two timelines: the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies and the school’s history.
The mural begins with paintings of students from the ‘70s dancing on a football field. Across the field are images of modern-day football and basketball players, band students and cheerleaders. At the end of the mural is a portrait of a student with a headdress. “Be yourself” is written, along with other smaller messages, around her head.
The mural is modeled after current students, like 16-year-old Kaleb Gordon, who is depicted holding a football.
For Gordon, the mural is more than just art — it’s an experience.
“This experience has really opened my eyes to new opportunities and ways of expression,” Gordon said.
Throughout the week of the project, Gordon had the opportunity to paint an image of himself. Once the mural was finished, students wrote their own inscription around the “Be yourself” message. Gordon wrote, “Express yourself,” a message he said he learned being a student at Eastside.
To celebrate the school’s diverse extracurriculars, the Eastside band played an array of songs, including the school’s alma mater. Audience members bobbed their heads and tapped their feet to the dance breaks and chants.
For artist Jenna Horner, the performance was a perfect introduction to the mural’s message about the importance of creativity.
“I'm a deep believer that creativity is something that's inherent in all of us,” Horner said. “And I wanted to give them an example of somebody going from being a student to actually in-action whatever their creative field is.”
Whether it be the mural’s depiction of sports or music, she said the message remains the same: Be yourself in your own creative field.
Not only does Horner hope to promote a message of creativity in the mural, she also hoped to do so in its production.
“The most impactful part for me was getting to talk with these students and have their expression literally go onto the wall,” she said, “after being a part of the whole collaborative experience of what it is to be one piece to a much bigger picture.”
For Principal Leroy Williams, the mural is representative of what it means to be an Eastside ram.
The mural captures Eastside’s energy, honor, integrity and history, he said. Through the mural, the message is maintained forever.
“You all took this moment, and you're a part of history forever,” Williams said. “That is what it’s all about — being passed along.”
Contact Grace Larson at glarson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @graceellarson.
Grace Larson is a first-year journalism student, currently serving as K-12 education reporter. She has previously served as city/county commission reporter for The Alligator's metro desk. In her free time, she enjoys staying active and hanging out with her family.
