Dec. 8, 2009

Across campus, semester-ending projects by Visual and Public Art students are on display. The murals have something to say – from local to global, from historic to contemporary points of view.

According to Johanna Poethig, who taught the painting and mural class, the project was designed to give students an opportunity to get public art experience, and to build the CSUMB community.

The students had to find sites, make contacts across campus, create site-specific images, submit proposals for review, develop painting skills, work within a timeline and install their work in public spaces.

The theme "People are Talking" provided the framework for the paintings - a full-scale figure with text. Each student selected and researched the person portrayed for his or her specific site, according to Professor Poethig.

Among the subjects depicted are a Palestinian boy with the word "peace" in several languages; John Steinbeck; the musician Wynton Marsalis; a woman practicing yoga; a child in a flower asking us to recycle.

Some of the pieces are displayed in interior spaces, including the Student Center, the Service Learning Building, the Saratoga Community Center in East Campus, the dance studio, the Science Instructional Lab Annex, the Music Hall and the Dining Commons. These installations are temporary and will be taken down at a time agreed upon by the artist and the site.

Some of the paintings have been installed on unused buildings along Seventh Avenue. These paintings will stay up as long as the buildings are there, documenting ideas, events and student creativity over time, according to Poethig.

Pictured above is the installation by Adam Flores at the Service Learning Building. To see more photos, visit https://vpa.csumb.edu/peoplearetalking.htm