If you haven’t been inside the Purple Room upstairs in the 3C Bldg. this semester, a side trip to the Campus Life area would be well worth your while. The Art Department was commissioned by Campus Life to design and create a mural depicting clubs on the AWC-NAU Campus.
The design process emerged from the idea that club members are an important part of campus life. In fact, they are the heroes who care and who act on their convictions to make life better for all the students.
AWC Art students conceived the idea that the individual heroes in the mural should symbolize with their clothing and accessories the various clubs and components of Campus life. The mural represents all the people on campus working together to create a harmonious and enlightening environment for students to learn in.
At the far left end of the mural is depicted a member of the Art Club with his larger-than-life paint brush. Next to him is a lady dressed in beautiful leaves representing the Agriculture Club and the LGBT Club. Next is a representative of the Theater Club, a harlequin in red and black.
Across the plaza stands a man in a chef’s jacket representing the Desert Culinary Club. Kneeling next to him is a warrior representing the Polynesian Club and campus diversity in general. Next to him stands a knight representing the Campus Crusaders, and on the far right of the mural stands a man with vials of potions on his belt and a larger-than-life compass across his back, representing the Math and Science clubs.
In the background of the mural stands a large building representing knowledge and learning. The lotus in the picture represents anti-violence, purity and enlightenment.
The artists are Bethany Koscinski (Art Club president), Jose Luis Rocha, Carla Hastings, Maia Cassidy and Francisco Vega. Bethany and Jose stated that working on this project helped them gain insight into how to work together professionally with other team members and how to interpret the idea of their client – in this case Campus Life – into a finished project.
To execute the project they had to consider many variables including the color of the room, the expense, and the type of paint, which in the case of this project was common interior house paint. It took the five artists nearly 60 hours to complete the mural during the week before the semester began.
The artists have had a lot of positive feedback for their work and have been approached about making other murals on campus and other places.
If you know these artists and see them around campus be sure to tell them how you appreciate their artistic contribution to our campus.
