LEWISTON — What began as an effort to let Lewiston students express their struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an annual summer art installation at the Lewiston Public Library that gives the public a glimpse into the feelings, interests and hardships of middle and high schoolers.

The art project is simple: Finish the statement, “I wish my teacher knew … .”

With that simple prompt, many have revealed deep feelings, some of which are aspects of their lives they seldom discuss in school. Some wish their teachers knew about their interests and hobbies. Some wish their teachers knew about struggles they face with school. Others wish their teachers knew about their emotional and family struggles.

No matter the nature of the statements, the project has allowed the public to look beyond certain biases they may hold about teenagers. The exhibit provokes conversations and reactions from viewers, according to lending services librarian Katherine Webber.

“It sort of sparks conversation mostly among other people but you can sort of see just people sitting with the information as they go from piece to piece,” she said, “and sort of absorb what the young people are trying to tell them.”

The exhibit is part of Art Walk LA, an event in which LA Arts works with local businesses to turn downtown Lewiston into an arts district on the last Friday of the month from May to September. People can visit participating downtown businesses to view exhibits and displays on those days.

Because of the library’s large youth presence, LA Arts leaders thought it would make sense to display the exhibit there, Webber said. Statements are displayed in the first-floor window and on top of book stacks on the first floor. It is a project she looks forward to each summer when it is usually displayed for several weeks. This year’s exhibit was displayed from July 27 to Aug. 18.

Deanna Ehrhardt, dean of students at Lewiston Middle School, first introduced the project to high school students when she was a teacher there about three years ago while students were in learning cohorts. She got the idea from a YouTube video. Sarah Greaney, English and English as a second language teacher teacher and case manager at Lewiston High School, included it in the lesson plans for her students last school year.

PROJECT BORN FROM PANDEMIC STRUGGLES

During the first year of the project, the majority of students wrote statements regarding mental health, roughly 62% of responses had to do with the issue, according Ehrhardt. Only students in her digital media art class participated in the project that year.

The project was an outlet for students who were struggling with remote and hybrid learning, isolation and the emotional upheaval that came with pandemic rules and restrictions during the 2020-21 school year.

Ehrhardt said she saw students “fall off the face of the earth” in her classes as she noticed them struggling during that school year. The project helped provide an outlet for her students during that time and let her hear their voice.

She pitched the exhibit to LA Arts that year and got a positive response, she said. When the exhibit went up as only a window display at the library that year and her class gathered to view the project, it was the first time students in her classes had been together all at once since pandemic lockdowns to socialize and see each other.

“It was really poignant because you know … we were able to celebrate it together in person,” she said.

For the first two years, only students from Ehrhardt’s high school digital art class submitted responses for the project digitally, she said. Last school year, the project was introduced to Greaney’s class and two middle school literacy classes that Ehrhardt taught the lesson to.

About 100 students submitted responses for the project the first year, about 140 students submitted responses for the project during the second year and this past year there were about 100 responses for the project, according to Ehrhardt.

Greaney used the project as an English lesson for her students last school year. Crafting her own response to the prompt to use as an example for her class, she shared personal struggles of her own to make students feel more comfortable opening up about themselves, calling it “social, emotional spiritual currency.”

Though it can be a struggle to engage some of her students in her lesson plans, she saw 100% engagement with the students who participated in this project, she said.

Those who do not want their responses displayed publicly have the option to opt out of being included in the art show but usually only a small number of students decide not to have their work displayed, the two teachers agreed. Even still, almost all the statements are anonymous, with only a few including a photo of themselves or other identifiable information in their statements.

Though the statements are anonymous, when Ehrhardt and Greaney become aware of a child in need of help they work with the school to get a student resources specific to their personal or emotional situations.

Sometimes students are not in the right space to participate in school when they first walk into the building due to various reasons, some of which can involve adversities faced at home, Ehrhardt said. So, building relationships with students and understanding where they come from is important.

“Education isn’t just about academics, education is really about relationships, the academics come because of it,” she said.

The art project helps bring to light some of the struggle’s students face, acting as a reminder to school staff that relationships with students are important, Ehrhardt said.

But more so, the project gives students a positive experience with sharing a little bit about themselves, if they choose to do so, Greaney said. “It’s about the power of choice.”

Taking students seriously

While the project speaks to the experiences of young people in the community it helps adults remember what it was like to experience the world for the first time, Webber said. Some of the struggles young people wrote about in their statements are similar to those that some adults faced as youth. It helps facilitate connections among people in the community.

Ehrhardt hopes the project will make people realize they need to take young people more seriously. Students have a lot to contribute and they feel deeply about things but sometimes they also feel voiceless because of adult situations they may be involved in, she said.

Webber has seen the statements shift from pandemic-related struggles the first year, to statements about the challenges of growing up, she said. There are not as many statements about students feeling isolated from friends or feeling trapped.

Though there are a few ways Webber could see the exhibit grow, she likes the impact it has on people exploring the exhibit with just their own thoughts.

“I kind of like it as a quieter, introspective project that people can just sort of come and walk through and enjoy,” Webber said. “And a lot of it is really moving, a lot of it is very powerful, and real, and relatable, and I think a lot of it is very personal, which is what I really like about it. You get to sort of have those experiences alongside the artist.”

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