December 8, 2005
Murals spruce up Miller Hall corridor
The collaboration between a student group and an artist has resulted in two large murals bringing scenes of color and light to the second floor of Miller Hall.
The murals cover opposite ends of the hallway outside the offices of the College of Education. Down a length of hallway, one mural shows students talking and studying in an outdoor scene; outside the college office is a light-dappled mural of a pathway that meanders off to a vanishing point.
The murals were created by Anne Hayden Stevens, an artist and lecturer in the Department of Architecture and the School of Art, in collaboration with a group of students called Educators for Social Justice. That group, Stevens said, was interested in “improving the quality of the space, producing something more communal, more welcoming and community-focused.”
Stevens and School of Education Dean Pat Wasley had already talked a bit about the idea of using the artist’s work in the building. This provided the impetus, and matched Stevens with what she termed “a strong group of collaborators to work with.
“I basically proposed to them that they start with text, choosing an educational quotation that had been inspiring to them, and discussed with them what they meant. We used the quotes as a starting point for the artwork.”
After consideration, the students chose for one wall a quote by civil rights activist Malcolm X (1925-1965): “We can’t teach what we don’t know. And we can’t lead where we won’t go.” For the other wall, they chose a quote from educator John Dewey (1859-1952): “Education is not preparation for life — education is life itself.”
Stevens, who teaches digital media, also has a background in traditional oil painting. The murals, she said, are basically digital prints mounted on the wall, created with a painting software program. Installation was done by an outside company, she said. The results are two softly colorful images that seem to soften and open up the otherwise unadorned corridor.
She said she hopes the murals capture the spirit of the College of Education (she is married to Reed Stevens, a member of the college’s faculty), and might offer students passing by “an opportunity to reflect on developing as an educator and on the choices one might make going out into the world.”
