Students in fall ceramics class display their art in DSPS

Art is something that can be appreciated by many people for years to come. It can entertain, inform, or inspire. Students in the fall 2012 ceramics class hope to inspire their peers with the new mural they created for display in the lobby of the Disabled Students Programs and Services department.

The dedication ceremony for the ceramic mural was held on Friday, April 26. The lobby of DSPS was filled with those attending. The crowd of over 60 people, consisting of students and staff, could be seen tapping their feet to the live music, and nodding along as one of the students who created the mural read an original poem.

The mural itself resembles a stained glass window with five distinct panels, each having a specific meaning. The images on the murals range from the Tree of Life, symbolizing knowledge, to a fiery Phoenix, representing transformation.

The border around the panels is made with tiles that were each individually crafted by the students who created the mural. With his own tile on display, biology major Benjamin Kohler happily watched the dedication.

“Hard science can be very stressful, and for me, [ceramics] is a way to balance it all,” Kohler said of his time working on the mural.

Kohler, like other students in the ceramics class that created the mural, finds a break from the classes for his major. “We each brought something different,” he said of the collaboration.

Ceramics Professor Linda Gelfman played a major role in the mural, but let the students come up with themes that are on display.

“There are many students in the ceramics class that use the DSPS,” Gelfman told The Current. “They will be able to enjoy it during their time [at ARC].”

The atmosphere of the dedication matched with themes of knowledge, compassion, connection, evolution, and transformation that each mural panel symbolizes. The music and sentiments around the room were expressing appreciation of the art that the ARC students have created on campus.

The new mural in DSPS adds to the tradition of campus art that so many students have worked on over the years. With the challenges that students face throughout their time in college, works like the mural influence the campus culture and ease the stresses that students experience.