April 10 marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement, a deal that ended 30 years of political and violent conflict in Northern Ireland. To commemorate the historic date, a rededication of the Campus Center mural, painted by Belfast muralists Danny Devenny and Mark Ervine in 2010, was held at the University of Massachusetts.

Devenny and Ervine are former adversaries. The two existed on opposite sides of the Troubles in Belfast, Northern Ireland, but came together to paint murals. Including the one which hangs in Campus Center and others across Western Massachusetts.

The original dedication of the mural was a large event, as noted by Dr. Leah Wing, a legal studies professor and organizer of the rededication. For three weeks, the muralists occupied the former reading room, which existed where Harvest Market is now located. Students and community members were encouraged to come watch or help with painting.

The process of painting the mural acted as a community builder, as some professors brought their classes to the mural, and others would come to watch the muralists paint during their lunch breaks. “It became a community hub,” Wing said.

The central image of the mural depicts the Statue of Liberty but is bordered by imagery of influences from all corners of the UMass community.

During the creation of the mural, students and community members were encouraged to submit aspects of what they liked about UMass, what they did not like, what they felt was lacking representation and areas they felt UMass needed to improve upon.

The mural incorporates these differing perspectives into one visual component. The mural both represents the progress made in the campus community, and the work that still needs to be done.

The mural is filled with complex imagery which speaks to conflict in a way that humanizes it, such as the chains on the left border of the mural which are depicted turning into DNA.

Much like the murals in Belfast that are embedded in the landscape, the Campus Center mural became an integral part of the UMass landscape.

Katya Migacheva, a UMass alumna and current social psychologist, helped to plan the original mural dedication in 2010 alongside Wing.

Migacheva said the final mural reveal was a “culmination of so much preparation.”

The mural echoes the process of conflict resolution which went into the creation of the Good Friday Agreement.

“I think it’s important to understand the roots of conflict, the diversity of the roots of conflict,” Migacheva said. “[The muralists] understood, they experienced the complexity of the conflict.”

Both Devenny and Ervine spoke from Belfast over Zoom at the rededication.

Ervine spoke about what it meant to him to paint this mural, saying, “It was a massive thing for me at the time. I never thought I would get out of Belfast.”

Ervine noted that the mural recognizes progress that has yet to be made for peace and community building. “There’s still an awful lot of work,” he said.

Grace Lee can be reached at [email protected]