By: Naariah Mason & Kanye Lee
November 26th, 2025
Embracing The Light mural at St. Christopher's Hospital
A mural for suicide awareness was painted at St. Christopher's Hospital and revealed on September 24th, sparking conversation about how art impacts our mental health. Carver art club students use art every day to help with personal expression.
Mural art has been a way to express the mind, specifically at Carver HSES where murals have been a stepping stone in the school's growth with mental health care.
“Carver’s mural history gives me a sense of peace as I walk down the hallways, and it gives me something to look at and brings me into the moment,” Saniyah Thomas, a Carver art club member, said.
These murals have come from many artists in Philadelphia both old and young.
“Whenever, I’m stressed or I’m having real negative feelings, I like painting in my own personal time," said Chloe Hammond, a Carver art club member
As suggested by Hammond, art is not only a hobby for students but it's a tool to solve problems. Art can be an emotional outlet for people who might not know how to handle things. Some people can be non-verbal so with the help of art it can generally improve their well-being with recent statistics from the APA on arts affects on the brain
The community surroundings can affect people's personal lives.. Many murals are painted around the places we live and the places we visit. Giving the community a sense of identity. A mural called “The Black Paradise Project" was made to bring joy and uplift the African American community, trying to cope and deal with ruthless violence that has taken place in the African American community with other murals like the George Floyd mural.
“I have a George Floyd mural in my community, and that connects back to my mental health because it represents the Black Lives Matter Movement.” said London Vinson, a student and nail artist.
Data from usafacts on suicide, show that since 1999 to 2022, the suicide rate in PA has risen by 32.7% with 14.2 per 100,000 people committing. And while we do not have access to 2025’s statistics, trends unfortunately indicate that they have not seen a decrease in suicides, and with this being Philadelphia’s reality we can only strive for success in the prevention through more awareness and art has been this outlet to help prevention as suggested by Carver’s own art teacher, Christine Swift.
“I would have to think that all these suburban moms have wine painting classes to deal with it.... It’s not just starving artists that are out there. Everybody wants to be creative now, because art is a great outlet too," Swift said.
People of Carver HSES seem to be proud of what they have been able to accomplish with art to stand out as individuals as art is viewed as permanent and of great value.
Joseph Dougherty, a psychology teacher at Carver, has given his thoughts on how important murals are in the history of the school and for students.
"I think students get a chance to express themselves, and it becomes a somewhat permanent part of the school when they get a chance to complete their murals,” Dougherty said.
second picture of the Embracing The Light mural at St. Christopher's hospital
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