Mural Project Completed!

When I took this One-Year Appointment to teach art at TMCC in Reno, I was asked if I could paint and teach a mural project that had been proposed, the first ever at TMCC.  I have experience painting murals from years ago, so I was excited to take it on.  The theme as proposed was to create a "Nevadan Landscape", and my original four students worked together to interpret what that could mean.  See this post!  Through numerous studies we came up with a final composition that our President and her cabinet approved.  Over the next 3 months, the original students, a handful of local volunteer artists, and I executed this massive mural.  It was a wonderful collaborative effort.



Here are the finished photographs of this 45' long X 12' high artwork, permanently on display in TMCC's Student Center.  In the process, I learned so much about this place!  The mural is a cultural and physical timeline of the surrounding area, starting at far left with the native legend of the Stone Mother at Pyramid Lake at dawn.  The viewer then progresses through day and several state plants and animals, including a Bristle Cone Pine, Big Horn Sheep, Wild Horses and others.  We also have a representation of the Black Rock Desert and the coyote as the symbol of the native fire bearer and the modern day Burning Man Art Festival.  Through the main body of the mural we have landscapes and cultural elements depicting the Truckee Meadows area around the college, including a view of downtown Reno from the hill that TMCC sits on.  Here we included past, contemporary and futuristic elements, from the 19th-century train referencing the trans-continental line running through here and a more futuristic image of a quickly growing and changing Reno.  Reno is best seen at night from the hill, so we transitioned into night and ascended up into the Sierra Nevada mountains and a moonlit sky at upper right.  We finished the lower right and the visual end of our mural with ancient petroglyphs found further south in Nevada, and this allowed for a creative signing ceremony.  We dipped our hands in paint and left our stamps like some of the old cave painting artists.  There is so much more rich conceptual detail if one studies the numerous smaller elements we worked in. 

Already the mural is making a noticeable impact.  Gallery attendance is up as the formerly dark corner of the large student center is visually ignited and many students notice the area for the first time.  Staff and visitors constantly tell me how much we have captured the character of Truckee Meadows and the surrounding area.  It seems to be well-liked by everyone I have talked to, and is a source of pride around the college.  I am so proud of my students and this project, and am grateful to have the chance to develop and teach this incredibly unique class!