The students said they wanted to create a piece of art that could symbolize what it means to live in Biddeford, a city overflowing with cultural diversity and also struggling to retain its heritage.
By RANDY SEAVER | Editor
A small group of student artists at Biddeford High School decided earlier this year that they wanted to leave behind a legacy – something that would mark their time at the school and also represent their shared experience and connection to the community.
The handful of seniors and one sophomore said they wanted to create a project that resonated with other students; a piece of art that could symbolize and encapsulate what it means to live in Biddeford, a city that is overflowing with cultural diversity while also struggling to retain its heritage.
_____
The young artists are all members of Liz Ames’ Painting II art class, an advanced art course that requires prior class experience in painting discipline.
Ames has been teaching art in the Biddeford school system for 16 years, including 12 years at Biddeford Middle School.
Ames described this group of artists as one of the most committed and thoughtful collection of students she has encountered.
“They really wanted to leave behind something meaningful,” Ames said. “It was rewarding to watch them develop this project from start to finish.”
The project is a large and very brightly colored mural that covers some rather drab, gray concrete blocks that line one of the school’s many hallways.
“We wanted to do something big, something about Biddeford, explained Alaina Gionest, a senior who will begin studying occupational therapy at Southern Maine Community College later this year.
“We wanted to create a legacy project,” Gionest explained.
The young artists began talking about their vision in early April. They also got some help from Bella Hendry, a Maine College of Art (MECA) graduate student who is working on a master’s degree in Arts and Teaching.
“They specifically wanted to create something that was community-focused,” Hendry said during an interview at the high school last week.
Hendry – along with fellow MECA graduate student Jai Santoro – worked closely with the high schoolers, helping guide both their vision and passion.
“There was so much enthusiasm,” Hendry explained. “You really couldn’t avoid the excitement that developed as the project moved from concept to reality.”
“We wanted to do something big.
— Student Alaina Gionest
We wanted to create a legacy project.”
The final product pays tribute to Biddeford High School’s many students who came here from several different countries all over the globe.
_____
One of Maine’s Leading Melting Pots
Although the data is almost constantly shifting and changing, one fact remains clear. Biddeford High School has one of the largest percentages of Multi-Language Learner (MLL) students in Maine.
RELATED | Maine Multi Language Learner Data
Other communities with a large influx of MLL students include Lewiston and Westbrook, communities that are very similar to Biddeford – former manufacturing epicenters that attracted a diverse influx of immigrant workers in the early part of the 20th Century.
Thus, Biddeford’s latest wave of new residents seems — in retrospect — to be a mirror image of a trend that actually began in the l800s, when new arrivals from Greece, Albania, Syria, Ireland and Canada flocked to the city in hopes of new opportunity.
The recent spiked increase in MLL students is not without challenges for Biddeford High School, most notably found in the pressing need of hiring more MLL teachers and other budget impacts.
But there is also no question that a recent wave of new learners has also had a positive and meaningful impact on the community that they now call home.
And that community connection can be found in the newest mural gracing one of the high school’s hallways.
“We’re a small community with a lot of different textiles and flags,” said senior Olivia Gregoire. “We wanted to leave a mark after our four years here, but we also wanted to show how people from different communities can combine to become one.”
Senior Delaney Allen said, “the whole point of the mural is to showcase the community’s diversity.”
The finished project is a mural that showcases Biddeford’s diverse skyline, from the City Hall clocktower on the left across the flags of several nations to a shoreline lighthouse on the mural’s right border.
The center of the mural shows a large heart rising over the Saco River and surrounded by a Tiger paw print – a tribute to the school’s mascot.
The mural is intricate, including meticulous details (and a few hidden Easter egg symbols added by some of the students).
But every detail was carefully researched, giving the mural a powerful authenticity. As an example, the artists relied on the help of BHS math teacher Khlood Al Hasan to make sure that some Arabic numerals were properly incorporated.
Each flag represents a nation that is home to at least one BHS student – 17 countries that begins with the United States flag at the highest point – and continues across the length of the mural.
The individual flags pay tribute to BHS students from Angola, the Congo, Canada, Iraq, El Salvador, the Philippines, Germany, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Mexico, Jordan and the United States.
The mural’s details are both inspiring and thought-provoking. The students left no stone unturned, making sure to include the Mi’kmaq, an indigenous group of people native to the areas of Canada’s Atlantic provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. The Mi’kmaq culture is commonly referred to as Micmac, representing Native Americans in the northeastern region of Maine.
Senior Kendra Cochrane said working on the project helped her deal with the stress and anxiety of making the transition from high school to adulthood.
Senior Avery McCann served as a teaching assistant in the class. He will soon be attending Maine Maritime Academy.
“I’m technically not a student in the class,” McCann said. “But I really did enjoy working on this project.”
_____
_____
STAY CONNECTED | SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE TODAY
THE BIDDEFORD GAZETTE
“Keeping You Connected to Biddeford”
Editorial Standards & Policies
© 2026 Biddeford Gazette, Inc. All Rights Reserved
BIDDEFORD GAZETTE 