DOWAGIAC — From a distance, a series of images sitting in the windows of the student media center at Dowagiac Union High School look like colorful paintings. However, the closer an onlooker gets, the more pixelated the images become, until it is clear that they are not paintings at all, but portraits put together with a unique art material — Legos.

Students within Dowagiac Union High School’s Art and the Community class recently completed four murals made of Legos depicting African American leaders Barack Obama, Ruby Bridges, Oprah Winfrey and Jackie Robinson.

The murals were initially supposed to be completed in February for Black History Month, but the project was delayed due to other projects, according to art teacher Courtney Dwyer. Now that the murals are completed, they will be on display for the public to view during the high school’s youth fine arts night starting at 6 p.m. May 16.

Dwyer had middle school art students complete the Lego project last year, and said she decided to bring it to the high school this year as the project has received a positive response.

“The one thing we did different was that we did less and larger this time,” she said. “Last time we did six, this time we did four. … All of the students worked in groups to create [the murals].”

The Lego mural project combines art with history, and Dwyer said she enjoys projects that combine more than one subject as it engages students and helps them learn in a new way. Dwyer said she hoped that students who participated in the Lego mural project were left with a greater understanding of the history of the African American leaders they portrayed with their murals.

“It helps students who are interested in art be engaged because of the other content being offered,” she said. “They get that experience of learning about history and participating in a nontraditional art project.”

Saying that she is proud of the work her students did on the project, Dwyer encouraged the public to attend the youth fine arts night on May 16 to see the Lego murals for themselves.

“Please take a moment to come out and see the amazing work that students did collaboratively to celebrate important people in our history,” she said.