A collaborative effort by several graphic design students, a new mural located in the McLaurin/Rutledge breezeway, urges students to vote in the upcoming election while celebrating another upcoming work of art in downtown Rock Hill to be created by popular artist and activist Shepard Fairey. Titled “Get Out the Vote,” the mural will remain in the McLaurin/Rutledge breezeway throughout Fairey’s visit and subsequently will be moved and displayed throughout campus to spread its message to students. The mural was planned, designed and painted by the nine students in VCOM 427: Narrative and Editorial Illustration including David Beck, Joy Heil, Mars Hogue, JJ Jacobsen, Erin Jones, Josh Lively, Eli McHone, Izzy Wallace and Sierra Wheeler.
Professor Elizabeth Dulemba documented the process of the mural in a series of blog posts, concluding with the completion of the mural shortly before spring break. According to Dulemba, the idea for a pro-voting mural came about through collaboration with political science professor Katrina Moyen. The announcement of Fairey’s upcoming visit led to a change in the concept of the work. “A team within the College of Visual and Performing Arts had the idea for a student-created mural in honor of Fairey’s visit and his work. They approached the illustration program to see if students might be interested. And so, the two project ideas came together as one,” Dulemba wrote.
Fairey is best known for the OBEY clothing line and the iconic “HOPE” poster featuring former President Barack Obama. The mural pays tribute to Fairey by using the red, blue and cream colors from the “HOPE” poster, as well as yellow and green accent colors that are found in Fairey’s more recent work. Fairey’s visit has been postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with rescheduled dates not yet announced. However, Dulemba says the students who created the mural have been invited to a celebration in Fairey’s honor in downtown Rock Hill, and Fairey will visit campus to see the mural in person.
The planning process for the mural took four studio class periods, and it was painted over three. “My illustration students collaborated on a design, mostly using a white board to combine ideas. They each came up with rough sketches on their own, and then collaborated on which figures they wanted to pull together in the final mural,” Dulemba wrote. “[The] students turned the whiteboard work-in-progress into a digital file ready for printing.”
The nine illustration students worked on painting the final mural over the course of two class periods, but were unable to completely finish it. Fortunately, several underclassman students from Dulemba’s VCOM 121: Design Drawing II course stepped in to help finish the painting during their class. “About a dozen of [the students] helped out, including one prospective student who was visiting campus that day. Keep in mind, studio art classes run two hours and 45 minutes each. This was truly a team effort,” Dulemba wrote.
Dulemba’s blog posts express her immense pride in the students and of the mural’s powerful message. “With luck, it will indeed do what it set out to do – inspire our students to vote and be heard. This is what an art teacher can do, this is how we make a difference! I’m so proud.”
For more information on the process behind the mural, visit Dulemba’s blog at https://dulemba.blogspot.com/2020/03/get-out-vote-mural-at-wu-final.html
The finished mural, photo courtesy of professor Elizabeth Dulemba
