-By, Isabel Isselbacher

For many Winsor students, summer means science. But while STEM internships have proven to be very popular among the sophomore and junior classes, chemistry and biology programs aren’t necessarily for everybody. In the past, students have wished for opportunities in other fields as well, like writing, business, and especially the arts.

Do not despair! While it may seem like a STEM activity is the only option for Winsor internships, many wonderful arts-related opportunities do in fact exist. One Winsor senior, for example, found a particularly hands-on way to involve herself in painting these past three summers.

Since 2014, Fiona D. ’17 has worked on Boston’s “mural crew,” a group of teenagers who are paid by the Boston Youth Fund to paint murals throughout the city. Fiona admitted the work has been intense: “Being a ‘youth artist’ definitely wasn’t easy,” she said, referring to the summer heat and the new skills she had to develop when she was first employed. She elaborated that “each mural would begin with our boss (or, as she named herself, ‘overlord’) presenting us with a bare wall and a design sketched on a piece of paper. We would always begin with scraping the wall until it was smooth, covering it with two coats of primer, sketching out the basic sizes of the figures involved in the design, and then finally drawing and filling everything in.” According to Fiona, one mural took almost four weeks to complete!

Yet, despite the challenges, she described the overall experience as fun and rewarding. In addition to making new friends from diverse backgrounds, Fiona related that “I get to see the things I help make immortalized on city walls.” You may have seen some of her work already, as she’s painted eight different murals in a variety of neighborhoods – Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Chinatown, Roslindale, Mattapan, and Allston. One of the best parts of the job, she explained, is giving back to the Boston community, no matter how big or small the project. Fiona also draws satisfaction from the fact that “A day does not go by when someone hasn’t stopped to tell [the mural crew] that they love [their] work, so it really makes everything worthwhile.”

It may be October, but it is never too early to start planning your next summer (as many of us have learned the hard way). If you’re interested in contributing to the Boston community by painting, you might consider joining the mural team. Boston residents are eligible for a position. For more information, visit the Boston Youth Fund website: https://www.bostonyouthfund.org