This mural invites the onlooker to enter the buildings on campus and acknowledge the laborers upon whom the flourishing of this University has long depended. It is a collaboration between the Institute for Social Concerns and Building Services, whose staff members come from all corners of the globe and work around the clock providing custodial services to 150 campus buildings - academic, administrative, and athletic buildings and residence halls - spanning 7 million cleanable square feet. The mural is painted by David Martin and Jason Haney, whose father worked as a campus custodian for 38 years, and the people represented are taken from the limited collection of custodial staff photographs in University Archives.
To accompany the mural, students and staff created a photovoice exhibit. Photovoice is a research method that positions persons, often on the periphery, as protagonists who document their experiences and share the story they want to tell about themselves. It is used to build community and advocate for change. In this exhibit, custodial staff from Notre Dame Building Services engage photography - taking new photos as well as sharing old photos - to offer a window into their lived experiences and identity beyond their work uniform. This project is a collaboration between custodial staff and students in the Institute for Social Concern's Art and Social Change course, and it emerged from an invitation by custodial crew leader, Bridget Filipski. She writes,
This project started when I visited a building that had ceiling tiles of art created by the students who traveled to Notre Dame from different parts of the world. I thought of my coworkers…..the people and stories I have heard over the past 20 years. I thought of how diverse and rich our department is with all walks of life. I wanted to celebrate our team as a unit that works "undercover" and "behind the scenes." Even though our job may not be glorious every day, we are all important.
Rooted in the Catholic Social Tradition principle, Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers, this exhibit invites the onlooker to encounter, acknowledge and learn from the individuals whom many of us pass by each weekday.
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Mis padres y mis hermanos me recuerdan el amor que siento por ellos, mirar la fotografía me trae enorme recuerdos, alegría y lo que los extraño cuando no los miro, y el cariño que siente uno por el otro.
My parents and my brothers remind me of the love I feel for them, looking at the photograph brings back enormous memories, joy and how much I miss them when I don't see them, and the affection one feels for each other.
Mis compañeros de trabajo, yo definitivamente siempre dispuesto a trabajar en equipo con responsabilidad, honestidad, colaborando, empatía, humildad y positivismo, para alcanzar un fin común y realizar nuestra mejor tarea. Somos de diferentes culturas y tradiciones, me gusta mucho aprender de todos ellos, la familia de Notre Dame.
My co-workers, I am definitely always willing to work as a team with responsibility, honesty, collaborating, empathy, humility and positivity, to achieve a common goal and do our best work. We are from different cultures and traditions, I really like learning from all of them, the Notre Dame family.
Mis amigos, mi otra familia, las personas que son de toda mi confianza, nos brindamos apoyo y alegría en todas nuestras etapas, las personas que siempre están cuando las necesito, soy afortunado de tenerlos.
My friends, my other family, the people who are my complete trust, we give each other support and joy in all our stages, the people who are always there when I need them, I am lucky to have them.
So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight, that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity, and it has worth." - Martin Luther King, Jr., address to Memphis sanitation workers, 18 March 1968
Hasena Begic
Bosnia
Assigned building: Masonry Building
This picture was taken in October 2024 while visiting my village, a house that brings many happy childhood memories. Many kids grow up eating homemade food prepared on this Wood Burning Cook Stove. At this time, we used Wood Burning Stove to heat the house, cook bean soup, and use that oven to bake whole chicken with potatoes. These were happy moments that took me back to a time when I was living happily with both my parents and all of us nine kids together.
A long time ago, 32 years ago, in this house, you could hear laughter and chit chat from happy parents, nine kids, and many grandkids who were sitting around a circular table eating dinner. Around the house was green grass and a beautiful plum orchard that would take the breath of everyone that comes by.
Now it's an old empty house that has grown into weeds, bushes, and old plum trees with tired branches that are crying, breaking, and falling from the tree. One thing that has stayed the same is the same sun that has been shining over that house for years and bringing many happy memories from my childhood.
Love, Hasena
My name is Sabaheta. I was born and raised in a small but very special city of Gorazde in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After living in Bosnia for many years, I moved to the America in 2010 and made South Bend my home. That is where I currently live with my husband, two daughters, stepdaughter and stepson. With the help of my family and our community, I was able to start learning English and then found employment at Notre Dame. When I'm not working, I like to spend time with my family and also travel back to visit my family and friends in Bosnia.
This picture was taken one of the summer when I visited home and family in Bosnia. This was my school that I attended for 8 years. It got burned down during the terrible war in the early 1990s. It was then rebuilt sometime after the war. It is now abandoned as people have moved away and there is not many people living there. It is always a happy place for me to come because it was part of my childhood and where I grew up. It brings back happy memories of my childhood. Love, Sabaha
Larry Robinson
Place of origin: Parkin, Arkansas
Assigned Building: Debartolo Performing Arts Center
I married my wife, Linda, in 1978. It’s year 47 of marriage. My 11 siblings and I grew up on a plantation in Parkin, Arkansas.We did not go to school, but we worked in the cotton fields from a young age, with our mother. We would line up to get a small teacup of water. People would say that it wasn’t enough water -but it was.
I started working at Notre Dame in 1972, and retired in 2019 after 47 years of service. I started in Meadowlark in 1972. Working with all the students and doing lab work in Meadowlark was a great experience. Then I got into Building Services as a custodian in 1980. I worked in Debartolo Performing Arts Center starting in 2000. I took classes to learn new life skills like computer and reading courses three days a week.
My Loving Aunt - Jeanette McCollum
Retired from Notre Dame after 23 years of being a Lead Cook at the South Dining Hall. She is the reason why I ended up working for Notre Dame, 34 years ago. She was like a second mom to me and my kids, she was that person that held the family together, even though she’s no longer with us, her presence will always be with me.
Love, Angela Hubbard
Jane Olsen
Place of origin: Niles, Michigan
Assigned Building: Breen-Philips Hall
Labor also makes possible the development of society and provides for the sustenance, stability and fruitfulness of one’s family. - Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia, 2015
Natalia Schmitt
Place of origin: Peru
Assigned building(s): Supervisor for 7 dorms: Baumer, O’Neill, McGlinn, Ryan
This is my daughter when she was younger visiting my family in Peru, where I am from. It shows my heritage. I love seeing the native Peruvian vegetation which reminds me of home, since I moved to the US twenty years ago. It keeps my spirit full of blessings. My heritage and tradition is my engine to keep me going.
Linh Tran ( Trần Ngọc Linh)
Place of origin: Vietnam
Do not doubt me when I say I truly love America. When I place my hand on my heart to pledge Allegiance and sing the National Anthem, I feel the pride in every word and the responsibility I have to a nation that nourished, loved, inspired, and gave me the Freedom that I had come so far away to receive and enjoy for the rest of my life.
To describe through art, as a team, we are on the bottom of the pyramid. But, without us, there wouldn’t be a strong foundation." - Bridget Filipski, Building Services Staff Supervisor