From Her Beacon: The Statue of Liberty Mural Series

The Edward M. Kennedy Institute hosts From Her Beacon, an exhibition of original artwork by students from Boston International Newcomers Academy (BINcA). The exhibition features nine original murals dedicated to the State of Liberty. BINcA is a Boston Public School in Dorchester that embraces new immigrant adolescent English language learners and their families.

More than 140 young people collaborated to create a monumental tribute to the Statue of Liberty under the direction of art instructors Celoni Espinola and James Hobin. Students contributed to this collective work as part of Democracy Day, a special day of civic programming at Boston International Newcomers Academy. Each rectangular block of the mural was painted by a different student. The title of the work From Her Beacon comes from the Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) sonnet “The New Colossus,” which includes the line, “From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome.”