KCCI creates public art in Nims Middle School

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - New artwork from the Knight Creative Communities Institute, or KCCI, is now featured in R. Frank Nims Middle School, as part of the group’s push to create more public art.

KCCI has a goal of expanding access to art.

The principal at Nims, Dr. Benny Bolden, says the art brings life to the campus, which helps with students’ mental health and education.

Bolden says it reshapes students’ environments.

“So kids have something promising that they like to come see, each and every day. Environment matters in the aspects of academic learning, and so making sure they have a safe space, but also an inviting place,” Dr. Bolden said.

The art includes five pieces in Nims’ Media Center, and one larger mural in the cafeteria. Artists Cosby Hayes and Matt Shanaghan worked on the project.

“The artwork depicts the class B-Boy characters that were part of the hip hop culture of the 1970s, but with a local flair that represents the Nims Middle School and this community,” KCCI Executive Director, Betsy Couch, explained.

Couch believes the art will have a lasting impact.

“It improves mental health and it inspires them. And whether that inspiration leads to them doing more as artists, or them just in their education as they move forward as students,” she said.

School Board District 3 Member and Vice Chair Darryl Jones says representation matters, especially to the younger community.

“I can remember when I was a student, I don’t remember myself being represented in my textbooks, and I certainly don’t remember myself being represented in the artwork found in my school,” Jones said.

KCCI has also facilitated the creation of a mural in Market Square and the Art of the Box program.