Students and visitors might have noticed a colorful difference as they enter the Gorham campus from School Street.
Students in a design class are painting the first large mural on campus.
For a while Michael Shaughnessy, chair of the art department has felt the plain wall which stands in front of the Brooks Student Center should be livened up a bit. So when Art Professor David Schneider approached Shaughnessy with his idea of painting it, there was no second thought.
“The wall has always just sat there,” Shaughnessy said. “I looked at it and thought it should be a rotating paint job.”
The artists are 14 students enrolled in Schneider’s design class. The artwork is a class collaborative piece, which gives the students a basic understanding of public artwork and group effort.
Schneider said the students were told to decide on their own how to design, work as a group, and to combine their talents in order to achieve something on scale.
“This artwork definitely improves the campus. It gives people the opportunity to see what students do, and allows students to express their visual feelings for others to see,” said Patti Volland, administrative associate for the art department.
The large wall outside of the Brooks Student Center was chosen for many reasons, according to Volland. Its size, visibility, and the fact that it’s connected to the student center were some of the factors that played into the choosing of the wall.
Once the decision was made to paint that wall, Shaughnessy and Schneider contacted Carl Hill, assistant director of Facilities Management, who then needed to receive permission from Joe Austin, director of Residential Life.
According to Schneider, they had to negotiate and assured the University to trust them. However, it was difficult because there was no sketch of the artwork to show.
“I told them if you don’t like it, you can always paint over it,” said Schneider.
Shortly after the project was approved.
Shaughnessy said he plans to paint the wall over in the future to display other artwork on it.
“Graffiti walls are incredibly expressive. It would be great to have one of those,” Shaughnessy said.
The response to the artwork now has been very positive according to Schneider.
“It represents the color of creativity, reflects each student’s own skill and experience at the University, but most importantly, imagination,” Schneider said. “The first thing you need in order to be able to do anything is imagination.”
“It’s very exciting to be able to do this,” said Shaughnessy. “It’s great that the University allows that kind of expression.”
Staff Writer Aimee Risteen can be contacted at: [email protected]