Art Students Leave Their Mark on Campus

Three art education students painted a mural on the wall of Hagen Hall.

Megan Kucera, David Juarez and Emily Worm were seeking field experience opportunities when this project was proposed by the nursing department.

“We liked that it was a way for us to do something for class and for the community,” says Emily.

The mural is located in what is known as the reflection room. The reflection room is meant to be a calming space dedicated to self-care, where one feels relaxed and safe. The mural is meant to be a soothing addition to the room.

“We want people to be able to look at it but not be fixated on it so they can just enjoy it while they relax,” says Megan.

“It is supposed to have a calming and relaxing feel to it and be non-objective,” says David.

The students were asked to paint something that would be soothing to look at. They didn’t want it to remind people of anything too specific. They also considered people’s fears while deciding what to paint. For example, since some people are afraid of the ocean, they chose to avoid painting anything that resembled it.

“We all brainstormed different ideas and then came up with the final design,” says Megan.

When planning the project Emily found an image that made her feel calm. She turned the image of a simple landscape into an abstract concept for the mural.

David noted that it did get tricky to maintain consistency with the original design, but they enjoyed figuring out the best way to make the piece its own while painting on the wall.

In total the students dedicated about 55 hours to this project. Though it was a lot of work they all agreed it was a great experience.

“We all really enjoyed working on this project,” says Megan. “It was nice to leave our mark on campus and see the arts somewhere else other than the art building.”