Flagstaff High School

Three Sisters Mural

Lillee Martin

            Over the course of a few years, Flagstaff High School has begun decorating its campus with beautiful art. Ranging from the bookshelf mural in the 100 hallway to the aquatic masterpiece in the 500 hallway, it is clear the school is not shying away from incorporating the artistic expression of the student body into the environment of the facility. The most recent masterpiece was created by the team at Terra BIRDS—Flagstaff, Arizona based nonprofit organization collective—as well as a group of around 40 FHS students (biology students in collaboration with members of the Native American Club) and is located in Ms. Musta’s science classroom in the 800 hallway. 

            The mural depicts the historic indigenous agricultural practice and cultural legend of the Three Sisters. This conceptualizes the idea that squash, beans, and corn must be planted and grown together in order to allow the sustainable, effective, and harmonious growth of the crops, being that they have a nurturing relationship with one another. This practice, as well as its cultural impact, is a synonymous way of perceiving plant life among many varying indigenous communities and tribes across the entire United States—ranging from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy of the North East, to the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, to even the Hopi Tribe of Arizona.

            This legend upholds the purposes of community and collectivism in maintaining flourishing naturalistic communities. In my research, I contacted Robert Chambers, the brilliant illustrator of the mural—as well as an amalgamation of other forms of media, like comics and children’s books—to ask him about his experience developing this painting. He provided his insight involving the impact and importance of this story by saying, “The Three Sisters center around themes of reciprocity, harmony, reverence and mutual flourishing. These themes run against the grain of our public-school culture, so there is some interesting tension there. There are also major differences between indigenous farming practices and the practices of the global food supply that make living in Flagstaff possible.” This perspective provokes a fascinating train of thought regarding the implementation of historical practices and how they change, grow, and adapt over time to become new ideas that are maybe even more effective in modern circumstances—as well as how finite cultural traditions impact the expression of the culture itself. 

            According to the Terra BIRDS homepage, “Terra BIRDS leads youth garden programs that promote justice, sustainability, and resiliency to help young people become the stewards of a healthy future.” After reading this, I grew curious about Chambers’ ideology revolving around the importance of implementing cultural storytelling through a visually artistic lens in an educational environment, and he left me with an incredibly meaningful approach to art that I feel accurately represents the values of the Terra BIRDS initiative. He says, “Personally, I think the most important part of an art project like this is the doing of it. The creative act is its own reward and doing it together, learning and teaching together, is a way to be fully present. It’s easy for us to be consumed by things that happened in the past or be blinded by anxiety about what may happen in the future. The arts invite us to drop those illusions and be right here right now. I think art, for the most part, is meant to be a signpost for those moments in our days and years when we see beyond the commonplace and the usual. These are the moments of our greatest happiness, moments of deep wisdom and connection to this world. Then we go back to the surface things of life, but those signposts remain reminding us of just how profound it is to be human. Working with the students in conceiving and executing this mural is like that for me. Young people have a perspective that is unique. Your minds are still fresh and a bit wild, not yet fully hammered into compliance by our culture. I think there’s a good possibility that the students who painted this mural will see it in the future and it will remind them of where they were as freshmen and sophomores, it will remind them of who they are and what they dream for their lives. This is really important. It’s easy to fall into illusions about those things. The world is full of incentives pushing us to be who we are not and serve ideas and technologies that do not have our best interests at heart. I think ‘art as a signpost’ is one practice that helps defend against that.”