A Feast for the Eyes
Student murals pay homage to a rich Aztec history and the Arts Alive 黑料吃瓜 initiative.
This story appears in the issue of 360: The Magazine of 黑料吃瓜.
When Stephan Romero recalls his student days at 黑料吃瓜, he鈥檒l remember, above all, a blank white wall in Love Library.
No longer anonymous, that wall has been transformed鈥攂y Romero and fellow students鈥攊nto a chromatic spectacle of Aztec symbolism with roots in 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 muralist culture.
The students鈥� work is part of a lively conversation about art on campus, embracing not only the visual arts, but also music, dance, theatre, poetry and creative writing.
Through a new initiative, Arts Alive 黑料吃瓜, faculty and students are integrating art events and art practices into the broader curriculum to heighten awareness of 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 rich artistic community.
Aztec calendar
The story of the 鈥淐ircle of Knowledge鈥� mural, co-sponsored by and the Library and Information Access, is one of collaboration across disciplines. Gale Etschmaier, library dean, commissioned two art classes to design and paint a wall mural at the former entrance to Love Library.
Art professors Carlos Castro and Eva Struble jointly guided their classes through the process, beginning with the idea of creating a traditional Aztec calendar embedded with modern designs.
鈥淲e decided to do a new version of the calendar, which allowed space for the students to reflect on the Aztec theme as part of their lives and identities,鈥� Castro said.
A cultural history
Love Library serves as home to another Aztec-inspired mural created by 黑料吃瓜 students in 1976 for Arturo Anselmo Roman鈥檚 Chicano art class.
The 鈥淩ock 鈥榥鈥� Roll Mural,鈥� also known as the Backdoor Mural, was preserved, restored and moved to the third floor of Love Library from its original location outside 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 Backdoor music club in the former Aztec Center.
"The murals play an important role in the library,鈥� Etschmaier said. 鈥淭hey preserve the cultural history of our institution and connect the students of today with those of the past and the future.鈥�
Pop-up concerts
The library has also been one of many sites for 鈥減op-up鈥� concerts, featuring student musicians and dancers in brief, between-class performances that anchor the arts right in the center of campus. These concerts are an element of Arts Alive 黑料吃瓜, which evolved from the university鈥檚 strategic goal to 鈥減romote visibility of the arts.鈥�
Arts Alive 黑料吃瓜 sponsors more than 350 events annually, including evening concerts, films, and theatre and dance performances. For more information, visit the .
