Claire Gordon didn’t begin her senior year at Salem Community High School with the expectation of designing a public mural. She just wanted to finish strong, stay close to the friends she’d made in the school’s art room, and maybe carve out a path that would one day let her teach art herself. But when a local trucking company approached her art teacher, Vanessa Randolph, with a request to design a mural honoring military veterans, Claire’s name came up.

And something clicked.

“Oh my God, yes,” Claire said when asked if she’d take the project on. “Absolutely.”

The mural, a tribute to the many veterans employed by XPO Logistics, became more than just a senior project. It became a symbol of how far she’d come. A self-described portrait artist with little painting experience, Claire dove into unfamiliar territory—faces, scale, and pressure included. “I've never painted faces before,” she said. “But I’ve really improved. And I don’t feel like I have a reason to hold myself back anymore.”

That clarity didn’t come from nowhere. It came from the years she spent in Salem Community High School’s art program—an environment built not just on creativity, but on belonging. “We have the most fun in there of any class I’ve ever had,” Claire said. “We’re free to talk, critique each other, help each other. It’s just a place where you can be yourself and grow.”

At the heart of that space is Vanessa Randolph, an English major by training who became the school’s art teacher when the program was in danger of disappearing. “I didn’t want to teach English anymore,” she admitted with a laugh. “But after the pandemic, the district needed someone to keep art alive. At first, I agreed to cover the class for a semester. But before I knew it, I was all in.”

Her presence was transformative. Within a year, the school brought back its annual art show—an event that had been dormant since 2014. By 2022, Fine Arts Night was reborn, and students were once again creating with a sense of purpose and public connection. “This is what we work toward all year,” Claire said. “It’s not just a school event—it’s a night where the entire community comes and sees what we can do. It’s cathartic.”

This year’s show, held on May 8, featured not only art, music, and design, but the debut of Claire’s mural. As band students performed and a veteran read a poem aloud, the artwork was unveiled before a crowd that included 30 XPO guests, corporate leaders, and local veterans. “It’s people they know,” Vanessa said, “but seeing the artwork helps them realize what these students are really capable of.”

Claire’s mural now lives at the XPO depot in Salem—a permanent reminder of the impact a student can have when given space to stretch and support to grow. Her journey will continue next fall with a practical step: a two-year course and state employment in stenography to gain experience and financial footing. But her heart is still set on returning to education—as an art teacher.

“She believes in all of us,” Claire said of her teacher. “And she’s made this program into something that matters.”

And maybe that’s the legacy here. Not just a mural on a wall, but the ripple effect of believing in students enough to hand them the brush—and let them paint something that lasts.