Westbury board highlights community mural at Yes We Can center, honors student artists

The Westbury Union Free School District board on the evening of its meeting recognized a community mural installed at the Yes We Can Community Center and presented certificates to the Westbury High School students who contributed to it.

The mural — created by artist Marie Saint Cyr in collaboration with Westbury students and coordinated by Tracy Caines of Community Connections of Long Island — was described by board members as a multiagency project that celebrates the neighborhood’s cultural diversity. “We wanted to collaborate and really engage with the community,” Tracy Caines said, noting the Town of North Hempstead, the Yes We Can center and Westbury students were partners in the year-long effort.

The district and organizers said the artwork includes portraits and motifs that reflect events and histories of the Westbury-New Cassel community and that it now hangs in the community center’s lobby. “The idea was for you to be able to see yourself in the designs,” Marie Saint Cyr said of the mural’s imagery.

Board President Robert Traiano and Superintendent Dr. Chase thanked the organizers and highlighted that the mural includes a depiction of NAACP leader Hazel N. Dukes, whom speakers said had visited Yes We Can often before her recent death. “She was very complimentary of Westbury. She visited Yes We Can often,” Traiano said when explaining why Dukes appears in the piece.

The board recognized student contributors Hannah Silva and Carmen Sanchez; certificates will be provided if the students were not present. Organizers encouraged more students to take part in future public-art projects.

The recognition concluded with a short video produced by the Town of North Hempstead and remarks from community partners inviting families to view the work at Yes We Can.