Hi readers and writerly friends!

This week in Artsy Things, I wanted to republish an article I wrote for the 6420 Magazine. They’ve redone their website again so I figured I’d try and post all my writing here! This article was supposed to be second in a three part series, but was adjusted to fit all the core information into one brief article for the magazine. You can learn more from the articles linked at the end of this blog post!

In part one of this series, we looked at the research and development the Fall 2019 Mural class conducted in preparation of the new humanities mural. They visited with Randy Marks from OKC’s Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs, Pablo Barrera from Oklahoma Contemporary, and the heads of the Arts Division from OCU to see what the process was like getting a mural up in public spaces, what Oklahoma Contemporary was doing to make public art more accessible, and what new courses and features OCU’s art division had to offer art majors transferring from Rose State College.

The start of an art-covered campus at Rose State

Even though the process for getting a mural up at Rose State was different than the process for public art, they still had to render out their ideas, budget their supplies, and put together a presentation for the Humanities Building Interior Mural Committee on the Rose State College campus. They narrowed down their ideas down to two mural concepts, one done by Fine Arts major, Ashley Gilliland and one done by myself. The committee chose Ashley's design due to time constraints and planned for my mural to be done next semester.

Once all of the prep work was complete, the mural was set to begin. They started sketching the design out on the wall and in days, had the first layers of paint up. Over the past few months, they've been working on it, each Tuesday and Friday, and they made considerable progress for only working two days out of each week of the semester. They just finished the mural and sealed it on Tuesday, December 10th, 2019, so it's officially finished.

Suzanne Thomas described her thoughts on the mural class, how it differed from previous years’ classes, and her thoughts on the mural:

“This mural class was more about the process and procedures that an artist must go through before they create artwork. Especially artwork that is meant to be viewed in public. I think a lot of art students have this idea that art is just about their personal expression, but public art, i.e., like murals, are about the reflecting the values within the community at large. This class was different in that there was more research that had to be done, more collaboration among the students, and Humanities faculty. I am really proud of the mural and their work!” said Thomas.

No Limitations

No Limitations mural in the Humanities building at Rose State College

Humanities Brain Mural Planned for Spring Semester

When the mural class rendered out their concepts for the first painting, at least three of five students came up with a left brain versus right brain type of design. They said this happened with zero communication or collaboration on their part and thought it was a good sign that they were on the same page. However, due to the fall semester moving so quickly, the students of the mural class, Suzanne Thomas and the Humanities Building Interior Mural Committee agreed it made more sense to do Gilliland’s mural in the fall semester and save my mural for the spring semester.

The Humanities Building Interior Mural Committee was torn between the two mural concepts and voted to have both done since they couldn’t pick one over the other. The second design is planned for the spring semester. I will be completing the mural as an honors credit project for my painting class, with the help of volunteer high school students from Midwest City High School. We’re still getting all our ducks in a row but so far, Humanities Dean, Toni Castillo’s approval we have a few students who have volunteered to work on the mural, and Suzanne Thomas’ has agreed to mentor me on the project.

Since I will be spearheading the project, it is my job to organize all the logistics from reaching out to the high school to recruit students, obtaining liability waivers, and getting everything approved between both schools. This project is exciting because it benefits all three parties—the MCHS students who will be receiving recognition for their volunteer work on the project, Rose State College which is using this as a recruitment opportunity for the Fine Arts Department, and myself who will of course receive recognition for the concept as well as an opportunity to participate in a leadership program.

Toni Castillo, Dean of Humanities provided her thoughts on both of the murals and her plan for breathing new life into the Humanities building:

“The mural project is a perfect opportunity for the Humanities Division Art Program to showcase the exceptional talents of Rose State students. I am particularly gratified that the project is completely student driven—their vision, their presentation, their implementation—so that eventually that entire upstairs corridor of our building will be a legacy of their values left for all who come here. Professor Suzanne Thomas, who has headed the project, has shown particularly strong leadership in the way she has structured the class and worked with dedicated Honors Program students to complete the project, as those students have in turn reached out to involve area high school students. The project in that corridor will be ongoing for several years until we finally have a true venue for experiential art here at Rose.” said Castillo

Spring Humanities mural completed in the summer of 2020 due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Unfortunately due to the pandemic, I had to push my mural back until the summer where I was one of the only people allowed in the building. Since then, I have completed it and was awarded honor’s credit for it’s completion. It was an incredible opportunity I will be gracious to Rose State College and Suzanne Thomas for forever. Below is a slideshow of the completed mural.

Humanities

“Humanities” mural in the upstairs back hallway of the Humanities building at Rose State College

Further reading

Exploring Oklahoma Murals Where Public Art Is More Than Paint

Exploring Oklahoma Murals Where Public Art Is More Than Paint

Is there an official opening date? Will there be a special opening ceremony or event for the public?

Oklahoma Contemporary - New Home

Artist VARA Waiver

General VARA Waiver for Works of Visual Art

COVID-19 Delays Oklahoma Contemporary’s New Location Opening Ceremony

New Light—Oklahoma Contemporary’s Plan to Re-Open

Making Space With Oklahoma Contemporary Interview With Pablo Barrera

Making Space With Oklahoma Contemporary: Interview With Pablo Barrera

Thank you for reading my article about murals at Rose State College and fine arts in the OKC area! If you’re in the area and interested in art, I highly encourage you to check out Oklahoma Contemporary and get involved with the art community here in Oklahoma!

—Payton