Riverhead Students Create 16-Panel Portrait of Pioneer Katherine Dunham

Sixteen hand-painted panels, each made by a student at Riverhead High School, hang together at Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport as a portrait of Katherine Dunham, the pioneering dancer and anthropologist whose work shaped modern dance. The portrait has been on view since Feb. 6 at 539 First St. Today, March 29, is the final day.

The work is Riverhead's contribution to the East End Arts Council's Martin Luther King Jr. Portrait Project, now in its sixth year. The program launched in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as a hybrid educational and public-art initiative, bringing together Long Island high school students to research and render large-scale portraits honoring civil rights leaders and influential Black figures. Riverhead High School has participated since the project's first year.

Art teachers Jo-Ann Dellaposta and Selena Pagliarulo organized the effort across their classes. Students began work in late September or early October and completed the assembled portrait by mid-January, each contributing one or two individual panels.

Dellaposta said Riverhead chose Dunham this year because of her "expressive arts background" and her strength in bringing that work into the community. In past years, the district has tried to focus on female activists, selecting subjects from a list provided through the project.

Dunham's career blended artistry, scholarship and advocacy in ways students explored through research built into the assignment. The work required studying her life and legacy before any artwork began, and discussions about her engagement with social justice and international cultural exchange were woven through the process. Participants have described the project as both an art-making exercise and a civics lesson. The 16-panel format also gave students experience planning a large-scale installation for public display.

The Riverhead portrait is one of several East End contributions to the broader MLK Portrait Project program, organized in part around Black History Month. For the school, the collaboration deepens ongoing ties with regional cultural institutions, including East End Arts and the Long Island Science Center.

East End Arts built the program around the principle that student portraiture of under-represented historical figures can serve as both arts instruction and public commemoration. Six years in, Riverhead's unbroken participation record reflects the kind of school-and-community partnership the project was designed to sustain.