New mural graces lobby of Dorn House

A new mural is ready to greet summer residents of Dorn House at Pitt-Bradford this summer.

The underwater mural, which was created by members of the Pitt-Bradford Art Club, depicts an underwater scene with shipwreck, circling shark, monstrous octopus, jellyfish and a peaceful sea turtle.

The mural was initiated by Dr. Ron Binder, associate dean of student affairs, who liked the tradition of murals in Pitt-Bradford’s academic buildings and thought they would also brighten up residence halls on campus.

The three previous murals on campus, however, had been produced by members of the art faculty along with their students. Binder asked resident assistant Sierra Kelly to head up the project. In addition to being an RA, Kelly had taken one of Pitt-Bradford’s mural classes last spring with Oleg Gotchev, a visiting professor from the National Academy of Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Kelly, a psychology major with an art minor from Claystown, Pa., who was also president of the campus art club, agreed and began brainstorming the idea with Jenny Trippett, an entrepreneurship major from Lemont who will be club president for the 2012-13 academic year, and other art club members. They also consulted with Gotchev on the design.

Kelly said that the students liked the idea of a colorful scene during Bradford’s snowy winters and decided that each of the resident halls should depict different scenes from nature, beginning with the ocean.

The residence life office paid for the paint for the murals, and Binder hopes to have murals painted in Reed-Coit House and Fesenmyer House also.

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