New student mural brightens Keuka College campus

Staff Reports KEUKA PARK -- 2022 Keuka College graduates Sarah Tower and Sydnie Brown are the artists responsible for the newest piece of public art on campus “Sydnie and I are so excited to share our experience about creating the mural for Keuka College,” says Sarah of the lasting impression they leave for future students of their alma mater.

Q: How did this project all start?

A: The two of us both studied Art & Design at Keuka College and had several classes together. As we grew closer through our classes, we had the opportunity to paint a mural in Cooperstown at the Holiday Inn Express swimming pool room. We didn’t have any experience painting a mural but took on the opportunity to learn. We visited the site, did research, budgeted money, created the design, bought supplies, and wrote a contract. We were so excited for the opportunity and spent a week during our winter break painting the mural. We both instantly fell in love with the whole mural process and knew we wanted to paint more!

Q: Why did you want to paint

a mural on campus?

A. In the Humanities and Fine Arts Division at Keuka College, our Senior Capstone course focused on a semester-long individual project. The goal of the individual capstone was to choose your own project that would be beneficial to you post graduation. We both instantly knew we wanted to collaborate and create a mural on campus. After our previous mural experience, we discussed the idea of starting a Graphic Design and Mural business together. Thus, a mural would be perfect to fulfi ll our project requirements. We also felt like it would be a great way to leave our mark on the place we had spent the last four years.

Q:What were the biggest

challenges about this mural?

A. Designing for the college, we had to work closely with facilities and the marketing department to make sure we followed the college branding guidelines and to prepare the wall space. Our project proposal began in February and our goal was to complete the mural by graduation in May. We were battling with NY weather. Based on discussions with other muralists, we were cautioned to paint only when the weather is above 50 degrees and no precipitation. Which we all know is very limited in NY between the early spring months. We planned around the weather forecasts and spent many weekends painting so we could get a lot done at once, somedays spending 10-13 hours painting. Another challenge we faced was projecting the mural onto the wall. The curve of the landscape made it difficult to project our designs and keep things proportional. Oh, and there was also a tree in the way of the projection so we had to find a creative way to work around that. We couldn’t have done this without the help of local artists Paulina Garcies Reed and Sam Castner who helped us problem solve and paint the mural. Our professors, Carrie Kehoe & Malia Spofford-Xavier also were constant supporters, bringing us food and helping us through our obstacles!

Q: What was the best part about this project?

A: Sydnie- I personally loved seeing the impact this mural had on the community. It was amazing to see the awe and surprise of the students walking by. I remember one day when we were working we had several visitors, the local school bus driver, a UPS delivery driver and locals walking their dogs. As the bus driver drove by he stopped and shouted “This looks great!” He was clearly so excited about the mural. It was one of those eye opening moments where I realized how much of an impact this project had- it was bigger than us and would leave a lasting impression on the college and the community. And then seeing everyone take pictures at graduation in front of the mural was such a proud moment- to see our fellow classmates and their families enjoying the mural was amazing.

New student mural brightens Keuka College campus

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