The Undergraduate Art League has been given the opportunity to make Baker University Center a little more colorful.
The group has set up on the second floor of Baker Center for the week to paint a mural on the wall outside the Baker Theatre after Dustin Kilgour, executive director of Baker Center and Event Services, approached UAL with an interest in “sprucing up” the building.
“We have had multiple discussions with provosts and campus officials about trying to get artwork around campus, but this is the first time we have been asked to create something like this,” said John Sabraw, faculty advisor for UAL.
Students in UAL have taken on the challenge of designing and painting the mural themselves. Once they created their own design, they collaborated with Kilgour to get it approved.
“The students came up with their own designs and voted on them,” Sabraw said. “Many ideas had been filtered through before a design was submitted.”
Stephen Deffet, a freshman studying studio art, created the chosen design, which includes using a paint dripping technique to spell out the word “Ohio.”
“I was inspired by Craig Costello’s artwork for the paint drips,” Deffet said.
Students will be working on the mural 12-14 hours a day in order to get the mural done for an unveiling during a distinguished alumni event Friday. There are between 40 and 50 students who will work on the mural throughout the week, Sabraw said.
Students have been put into teams to complete different phases of the mural, including priming the wall and working on the paint drip technique, said Stephanie St. Aubin, president of UAL.
“We have created teams to try to make this process more organized, but really our plan is to completely freak out and put every possible second into this mural,” Sabraw said.
Deffet, along with two other freshmen and a graduate student, have taken over the administration of the project. They will be spending most of their time overseeing and painting the mural.
“I probably won’t be sleeping much this week,” Deffet said.
“This mural will display the talent of our students, develop awareness about the arts and hopefully help bring in new members for UAL," St. Aubin said.
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