Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s class of 2021 is leaving their mark on campus with a mural on campus encompassing the theme of “Diversity in STEM.” This is one of the first exterior murals painted on a college campus in Worcester.

“There was a want from the DEI team to diversify the campus with artwork, and the senior gift committee took it one step further,” said Jessica Musto, annual giving associate. “They really wanted something that would impact the entire WPI community, and with current events this is something that will mean a lot to a lot of people.”

Artists were asked to include diversity and stem in their submissions. Sharinna Travieso, a local Worcester artist, was chosen for her creativity and the impact her art would make.

“With this one, I had a lot more creative freedom,” Travieso said. “They just wanted STEM and diversity, and that was pretty much all I had to go by. But what’s better than a bunch of diverse kids hanging out, bonding over science and art?”

Though she anecdotally got her start from painting an octopus on her wall at her childhood home, against her mom’s wishes, Travieso started painting murals in 2016. She assisted someone with that first mural and then took a break from the craft. Over the past few years, though, Travieso has painted murals on restaurants and nutrition shops, she said, in Worcester, Framingham, and Millbury. Travieso is also known for painting the “L” in Worcester’s Black Lives Matter mural.

With the input of students, the Art Committee, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team, the art work depicts various images of students at WPI learning and engaging with each other. The image shows students of different ages, races, ethnicities, and genders studying from books, computers, test tubes, calculators, telescopes, and even with robots. Each student is meant to represent a different part of WPI’s campus life.

“It was definitely something I resonated with,” Travieso said. “It feels really good. Being here my whole life and being able to express myself in the city.”

Musto spoke of how the class of 2021 faced a lot of social injustices throughout their education, becoming aware of issues like Black Lives Matters as well as facing a pandemic. The current events were able to push the class to encompass diversity and inclusion within the mural.

Travieso has created a mural on the brick wall of WPI’s Campus Center, across from the Innovation Studio. Musto said that the students thought it would be a great spot for the mural since it is a highly trafficked area, with the area representing togetherness in a sense through the dining hall, book store, and more leisure areas for students to congregate.

To sketch the mural, Travieso used a projector. She sketched the entire painting in one night in about four hours. The next day, she painted in the blue background, which she did physically instead of with spray paint. 

The Class of 2021’s mural gift will also be accompanied with a scholarship that will help an underrepresented student within the Worcester community to attend WPI. The scholarship is expected to start in the 2022-2023 school year.

“It just means a lot to have this come to fruition,” Musto said. “They’re very excited to see it up on campus.”

The mural will be dedicated Saturday during the college’s homecoming events. Travieso will then have completed the entire mural in about a week.