- Home >
- Top Stories
Adding some pizzazz to MBR stairs
November 02, 2007
Walking on lower campus last week, it was impossible to miss the distinctive mural adorning the staircase leading up to the Mary Baker Russell Music Center.
The approximately 6-foot-by-10-foot painting depicts classical composer Beethoven alongside The Beatle’s John Lennon. In black, white and gray, the image is painted on the vertical face of the steps, so it can only be see when looking at the steps from the bottom of the staircase.
The mural appeared on campus last Monday and is the work of the newly formed art club, Leaders Expressing Artistic Dreams (LEAD). It was the group’s kick off project, said club president John de Mars.
“It’s a great medium, an expressive art form and it lightens up campus,” de Mars said of the mural.
A junior double majoring in business and political science, de Mars is the last person most would suspect as one of the creators of the art club. Yet, that’s one of his current claims to fame.
While he may not be actively pursuing an art degree, he identifies as an artist. The idea to create a large-scale mural on campus began formulating in his mind during his freshman year, but he quickly realized he’d need a group of people to pull it off. Hence, he decided to reform the art club, which last existed on campus more than 10 years ago.
He joined forces with art majors Liisa Nelson and Rich Wilkins, who also had a desire to start an art club on campus. Both are heavily involved in the department and were motivated to get the club off the ground, he said.
“I sparked the fire,” de Mars said. “What’s really going to fuel it is people’s involvement in it.”
At the club’s interest meeting a few weeks ago, about 40 students signed on to be members, which was heartening, de Mars said. While most of those involved in the club are art majors, he stressed that the club is open to anyone interested in art.
“We want to bridge the gap between art majors and non-art majors,” de Mars explained.
As an artist, de Mars enjoys collaborating with others on pieces. In addition to giving both majors and non-majors access to PLU’s art facilities, the club will create opportunities for the artists to collaborate and display their work around campus.
“There’s a huge need for the club because there are lots of art students and artists that don’t have an outlet to collaborate with other artists, and they don’t have the resources to have their work shown,” de Mars said.
“There’s a huge amount of talent on campus. This is an opportunity to tap into that talent and make it more visible.”
LEAD plans to complete one to two projects per month. The MBR staircase mural was the first of those projects, and it took about two weeks to obtain the necessary approvals, de Mars said. Once the final approval was given, the club jumped right in. Wilkins, Nelson, Jaclyn Aldrich and de Mars began on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 26. Other club members stopped by to assist, and the piece was finished at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 29.
It was a quite a process, de Mars explained. After deciding to use the images of Beethoven and Lennon – it seemed fitting to have two music icons on the stairs to PLU’s music building – the images were manipulated in PhotoShop and placed in a grid.
Outside on the stairs, the artists painted a white base on the front of the stairs, sort of like a primer, and drew in a grid. They sketched out the image in chalk, which took nearly a day. It was challenging to draw on a vertical surface, de Mars said.
The final step was filling in the sketch with paint. The artists continually stepped back to critique their work and make sure the perspective was correct, which was a great learning experience, he said. When the last piece of tape was pulled off, the entire group screamed with joy.
“(The mural) shows that with a solid vision and motivation, you can pull off an incredible artistic collaboration,” de Mars said.
“It was a group effort,” he added. “You need the talents of everyone. Art’s something that the more creative minds involved in the project, the better the end result.”
The mural isn’t a permanent addition to the stairs. In about a month, the club will power-wash it away. The entire process of starting the club has been crazy, de Mars said, but he’s thankful to the faculty and students who have supported the group's efforts.
The club meets on Wednesdays in Ingram. The time and location of the meetings depend on the week. For more information, or to suggest future projects, contact de Mars at demarsjo@plu.edu.
University Communications staff writer Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, ideas? Please contact her at ext. 8691 or at haleymk@plu.edu. Photo by University Photographer Jordan Hartman.
The mural appeared on campus last Monday and is the work of the newly formed art club, Leaders Expressing Artistic Dreams (LEAD). It was the group’s kick off project, said club president John de Mars.
“It’s a great medium, an expressive art form and it lightens up campus,” de Mars said of the mural.
A junior double majoring in business and political science, de Mars is the last person most would suspect as one of the creators of the art club. Yet, that’s one of his current claims to fame.
While he may not be actively pursuing an art degree, he identifies as an artist. The idea to create a large-scale mural on campus began formulating in his mind during his freshman year, but he quickly realized he’d need a group of people to pull it off. Hence, he decided to reform the art club, which last existed on campus more than 10 years ago.
He joined forces with art majors Liisa Nelson and Rich Wilkins, who also had a desire to start an art club on campus. Both are heavily involved in the department and were motivated to get the club off the ground, he said.
“I sparked the fire,” de Mars said. “What’s really going to fuel it is people’s involvement in it.”
At the club’s interest meeting a few weeks ago, about 40 students signed on to be members, which was heartening, de Mars said. While most of those involved in the club are art majors, he stressed that the club is open to anyone interested in art.
“We want to bridge the gap between art majors and non-art majors,” de Mars explained.
As an artist, de Mars enjoys collaborating with others on pieces. In addition to giving both majors and non-majors access to PLU’s art facilities, the club will create opportunities for the artists to collaborate and display their work around campus.
“There’s a huge need for the club because there are lots of art students and artists that don’t have an outlet to collaborate with other artists, and they don’t have the resources to have their work shown,” de Mars said.
“There’s a huge amount of talent on campus. This is an opportunity to tap into that talent and make it more visible.”
LEAD plans to complete one to two projects per month. The MBR staircase mural was the first of those projects, and it took about two weeks to obtain the necessary approvals, de Mars said. Once the final approval was given, the club jumped right in. Wilkins, Nelson, Jaclyn Aldrich and de Mars began on the afternoon of Friday, Oct. 26. Other club members stopped by to assist, and the piece was finished at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 29.
It was a quite a process, de Mars explained. After deciding to use the images of Beethoven and Lennon – it seemed fitting to have two music icons on the stairs to PLU’s music building – the images were manipulated in PhotoShop and placed in a grid.
Outside on the stairs, the artists painted a white base on the front of the stairs, sort of like a primer, and drew in a grid. They sketched out the image in chalk, which took nearly a day. It was challenging to draw on a vertical surface, de Mars said.
The final step was filling in the sketch with paint. The artists continually stepped back to critique their work and make sure the perspective was correct, which was a great learning experience, he said. When the last piece of tape was pulled off, the entire group screamed with joy.
“(The mural) shows that with a solid vision and motivation, you can pull off an incredible artistic collaboration,” de Mars said.
“It was a group effort,” he added. “You need the talents of everyone. Art’s something that the more creative minds involved in the project, the better the end result.”
The mural isn’t a permanent addition to the stairs. In about a month, the club will power-wash it away. The entire process of starting the club has been crazy, de Mars said, but he’s thankful to the faculty and students who have supported the group's efforts.
The club meets on Wednesdays in Ingram. The time and location of the meetings depend on the week. For more information, or to suggest future projects, contact de Mars at demarsjo@plu.edu.
University Communications staff writer Megan Haley compiled this report. Comments, questions, ideas? Please contact her at ext. 8691 or at haleymk@plu.edu. Photo by University Photographer Jordan Hartman.