CSU’s student-designed mural teaches teamwork, history

Columbus State University students are culminating months of collaboration while painting an 85-foot-long mural depicting local history and school spirit on the exterior of the Davidson Student Center.

CSU explained the project in a news release this week.

Gabriel Villa, CSU’s Amos Visiting Scholar from Chicago, is leading the project. His class, “Mural History and Practice,” spent the first part of the semester on the design, which includes a river, railroad, cougars and the inner workings of CSU’s iconic clock tower.

“There will be three cougars that move from realistic to abstract, which represents how we’ve made CSU our own over the years,” Sydney Flatt, a studio art transfer student in her first year at CSU, said in the news release.

“The wave represents the river and how it helped the city,” Zoemy Barreto, a senior majoring in fine arts, said in the news release. “And the mosaic elements are to represent the church, since Columbus has a lot of churches.”

Rachel Ware, a junior majoring in art history, noted the half mandala arching over a doorway is inspired by Pasaquan, another CSU art project, which restored the internationally renowned psychedelic art compound in Marion County.

Flatt appreciates the teamwork that’s been essential to the project.

“It was helpful, because after college, we’ll have to know how to listen to others and work together,” she said “A lot of group projects in college have a correct answer, but this doesn’t. It is all about creating something new as a team.”

Villa’s class will continue painting the mural through the end of the semester. They meet every Friday afternoon but are accepting volunteers to help throughout the week.

“It’s bringing a lot of people together,” Ware said. “People walk by, see it and ask about it. They like it, so they just start painting. The paint will last 20 years, so it is really an opportunity for us to leave our mark.”

Students interested in volunteering to paint should contact Villa at gabrielvilla.gvilla@gmail.com.

This story was originally published October 7, 2017 at 10:31 AM with the headline "CSU’s student-designed mural teaches teamwork, history."