Auxiliary Enterprises is known as “the plug” of Jackson State University’s campus, providing students with entities on campus such as dining services, vending services, the campus store and the post office.
“We make the university safe for our students and provide the services that are needed to ensure that they don’t have to go off-campus,” Auxiliary Enterprises Director Kameesha Hill told the Mississippi Free Press. “We are a city within a city, so the goal and the initiative of what we do in Auxiliary is to make sure we bring those businesses to campus.”
They had already done a few renovations to the campus’ mailbox including new paint, mailboxes and upgrades to the general area, but it still lacked some character, the company determined.
“We were looking at the area and thinking we have all this real estate and that we could definitely do something to beautify the area,” Assistant Director Victor Mills said. “If you walked in originally, you’d have this one tone where people can easily walk past the area.”
After some discussion, the team settled on a mural project, enlisting the help of Jackson State University alumnus and artist Christopher Windfield. Mills reached out to Windfield personally, as they both majored in art at the institution and remained friends after graduation. Hill and Mills came up with a multi-phase mural project paying homage to Jackson State’s history and legacy.
The mural highlights Jackie Robinson, Constance Baker Motley, Joanne Trumpauer, Malcolm X, Booker T. Washington, and Cesar E. Chavez as United States Postal Service stamps. Another wall shows murals of students gathering at the Gibbs-Green Memorial Plaza and the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the first Black women to serve as mail carriers for the U.S. Army.
“We thought about the different stamps, what they symbolize and how the post office honors those who have done some remarkable things as people, as activists, as government officials, as actors, as athletes,” Mills said.
“We decided to utilize the stamps and incorporate our alumni, incorporate people from Mississippi and incorporate people who have done some amazing things in the world, who represent Jackson State University and our students,” Mills said.
With so many students, faculty and staff that frequent the post office for mail and packages, their eyes will immediately be caught up in the artwork on the wall, Hill said.
“One of the main focus points was to make sure that we always tell our own story,” she explained. “There’s so much history in the United States Postal Services, as well as the one here on campus. And so what better way than to use the walls that we have to tell that story.”
‘Start a Conversation’
After talks with Victor and JSU Postal Manager Stephanie Luckett about the concept for the mural, Christopher Windfield began sketching his ideas in Photoshop before submitting it for approval with their committee. The first two phases of the project took him two months to complete.
“I want to start a conversation and people to become curious and ask questions about the past and the history, especially the history related to Jackson State,” Windfield told the Mississippi Free Press. “It’s not about people watching the murals and saying that it looks pretty. It’s also about educating people who are consuming the visual art.”
The muralist’s art teacher always told him to create art that answers questions that people are afraid to ask and asks questions that people are afraid to answer. He keeps that motto in mind when he creates, imbuing his artwork with messages that speak to what is going on in society today.
Windfield advises young artists today to paint what makes them happy and not what other people think they should create. If art feels like it’s made for other people’s expectations, the art loses, he expressed.
“ I want Black artists to know that you do not have to put yourself in a box,” Windfield said. “And don’t always feel that you have to create art that’s based on Black experiences or Black people, even though I do that, and I take pride in doing that. I think if there’s any race of people that deserves to have the freedom of creativity to create whatever they want without being judged for it, it’s Black people or any minority.”
Kameesha Hill said since the installation of the mural, they’ve noticed students become more interested in art. Auxiliary wants to continue to build off that enthusiasm around the medium since students often use art and music as forms of expression.
“They are seeing the type of medium that (Windfield) is using and the elements of design that he is implementing in the mural. So, it has sparked a big following of students who have become interested in painting, interested in drawing, interested in doing murals,” Mills added. “As an art major, it’s great to see that students are engaging in that realm.”
The mural project is slated for more phases, which could include tributes to the football program and the Sonic Boom of the South. Windfield is excited at the prospect of doing more murals and has had a few discussions with the band director about specific designs, he explained.
“I think he wants to do something in the future … just some designs that he might want to do in the band hall or in the band room where they practice,” Mills said. “Something that kind of motivates them.”
Director Kameesha Hill said they’ll be working with the school’s student government association on the upcoming phases to take the SGA’s opinions into consideration. Those involved are discussing and floating around ideas about extending the project past the initial four phases and beautifying more structures in and around campus.
One of Auxiliary Enterprise’s models is to make a difference through service, and this mural project gives them an opportunity to do that.
“The art is great, and it’s a message behind it that I hope our students and our faculty become encouraged about and see the potential within themselves,” Mills said. “That’s from a social standpoint, from a personal standpoint and of course, from an expression standpoint. Art is a beautiful thing that we could provide as an outlet for our students.”