Art students paint murals in Jesse Dunn building
By LANEY COOK, Student Reporter
Two students in Northwestern’s Visual Arts program have taken on the project of painting murals in the Jesse Dunn building.
Jaycee Shepherd, a junior, and Samantha Friday, a sophomore, started creating sketches and preliminary mock-ups for the murals in September.
Kyle Larson, a visual arts instructor at Northwestern, said the murals will be an ongoing project through the spring semester.
The students are painting the murals on the first floor of the building, where the university’s Agriculture Department is. Larson and Dr. Dean Scarbrough, an agriculture instructor, thought up the mural project while talking about ways to make the hallways of Jesse Dunn and the Agriculture Department more inviting for students.
“Professor Larson asked if I wanted to have this opportunity, and I said, ‘Yes,’” Friday, a psychology major, said. “I’ve never painted a mural before, so I thought this opportunity could be a great learning experience.”
Friday said she and Shepherd independently work on each mural.
Shepherd chose her design out of consideration for what the Agriculture Department wanted as well as what she thought would look best on the wall.
She used photos given to her as well as her knowledge of how to compose a large painting.
“I chose to do the rodeo mural because, before I came to Northwestern, I had never been to a rodeo, and so I would say that it’s a big thing that sets this school apart from others,” Friday said.
Larson said he is excited about the two students taking on this role in the project.
“This project shows how departments on campus can work together to give students opportunities to express themselves while creating a more inviting campus environment, an environment that really shows how passionate and creative our students are,” Larson said.
Friday said she finds interest in the painting process. She said she has never worked with this big of a canvas before, and she likes exploring this new opportunity here on campus.
Shepherd said she is eager to be able to do something that represents her school.
“It’s just a really cool experience to be picked to do such an awesome thing,” Shepherd said. “I feel very blessed.”
The murals are expected to be completed next semester.