Nonprofit paints first mural at Fort Clarke  

Three years after starting her nonprofit, Jenna Horner is finally on-site at a school painting the organization’s first mural with the help of dozens of middle school students. 

Splashes of color, flowers and diverse faces now decorate the outside wall of Fort Clarke Middle School’s gym, a previously blank-white cinderblock structure that students frequently pass on their way between classes. Stripped across the colorful pictures are the words: “Be kind to yourself, you matter; Be kind to others, they matter.” 

“Mindful Messages: a Mural Movement in Schools” is the result of Horner’s own experience growing up, combined with her current career as a mural artist and a passion for mental health. 

“I’ve just learned through doing mural work for companies and various people how much I didn’t even know the power that paint had until I got into the work,” Horner said in an interview. “And realized how much I believe that art can really change the energy of a space and make a difference.” 

The organization’s goal is twofold: elevate the aesthetics of the school to encourage students and aid their mental health, and to get them involved with the hands-on creation of the mural. 

But the words themselves are also integral to the project, Horner said. 

For her first project at Fort Clarke, she said the school gave her a lot of creative freedom under the general theme of “kindness.” Horner chose to use a personal mantra that she uses in her everyday life as a reminder for herself and others. 

“A lot of times I’m borrowing from people that have said things much better than me for many, many years,” Horner said. “So I’m really inspired by like Maya Angelou and other poets, and activists, and people who have said really simple truths, or I call them reminders. Because most of the time, all of this is stuff that we already know. We just need the reminder that it’s still true. There’s a lot to distract us from some of the simplicity that these messages can have.” 

Horner said she has done a few murals for smaller educational spaces to get Mindful Messages rolling, but Fort Clarke is her first “big whammy” at a public school. 

Applications for participation in the mural movement are only open to middle and high schools, as Horner said that is where she sees fewer creative opportunities for students. She said Fort Clarke was first on the list because it was not only one of the first to apply, but also because it has no art class, only an art club. 

The next project is planned for Gainesville High School, and Horner said that school has asked for its mural to lean more into its history as the first integrated high school in the county. 

“It’s kind of like going into the spaces that maybe are lacking, or don’t have the funding for creativity to be implemented in the system,” Horner said. “And basically, coming as visiting artists and creating an opportunity, at least for the kids to get their hands in paint again, or get their brains working in the opposite direction that it’s used to for most of the day.” 

 Horner said when she was a student, she did not do well with testing because she is more geared toward hands-on creativity, like her murals. She said she hopes for the mural project to give an opportunity to students who think differently than the way academia presses them to be. 

Horner started the Fort Clarke mural last week, while the students were on spring break. She and some volunteer helpers laid down the background and major elements of the picture, leaving portions outlined for the students to fill in.  

Tuesday was the major workday to get students involved, with classes of 20-25 students stopping by for a class period to take turns doing worksheets and painting the wall.  

On Wednesday, the Fort Clarke art club will get to spend some extra time with Horner and her volunteers, getting the wall near completion. Horner plans to come back once more on Thursday to clean up any paint drips and smudges left by energetic young helpers.