On Thursday, Oct. 9, Art Club members, art majors and art minors started on a project aimed at brightening the halls of the art floor in the Steinman Center.
A mural painted by the students will soon cover the large wall at the end of the art hall as well as the walls with the coat racks and shelf right before the end of the hall. The walls at the beginning of the hallway will be used as a gallery space for current student pieces.
Assistant Professor of Art and Art Club Advisor Dr. Kristi Arnold explained the inspiration behind the mural. “The project is inspired by Sol Lewitt’s corridor at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A team of art students, Art Department faculty and the Art Club members redesigned the corridor as a three-dimensional painting. We approached the space as if it were a painting, drawing inspiration from geometric abstraction and minimalism. We really tried to bring out the architectural elements of the corridor as best as we could, approaching the walls as separate shapes rather than just a plain wall,” Arnold said.
Junior and Vice President of the Art Club Sarah Romagnoli detailed what the mural should look like. “The hallway is to have the two bigger walls a cream color so art can be displayed on it and the color won’t be distracting or take away the effect of the art work. The two smaller walls where a shelf for backpacks is will be red tones. The strip above the cream walls will be blue and the section above that is green. On the wall all the way at the end of the hallway, there will be a mural that has all of the above colors plus yellow, and the design will portray a geometric representation. And the two walls next to that will be yellow,” Romagnoli said.
After this project is completed, the hallway will remain this way permanently. However, the large wall at the end of the hallway with the mural design could change every other year according to Arnold.
“This is our first time doing this,” Arnold said. She continued on to say that the art hall had never been painted and this was a great first project for members of the Art Club, which recently started up again after being negated for a few years.
Along with the painting of the art hall, Art Club members also have another project on their hands.
“The department also has access to two very large canvases for which the Art Club will eventually collaboratively plan a design and then paint.” Arnold said. “We are hoping that we can hang the finished painting somewhere on campus outside of the department,”
With the large canvases, the hallway, and their regular classes going on, the Art Club members and art majors and minors have been very busy. However, they hope to be finished with the mural in the hall by today.
Students are encouraged to come check out the mural after it is finished in the Steinman Center building on the first floor in the art wing.
