Visual arts students create murals at Avita

A partnership between the University of North Georgia (UNG) Department of Visual Arts and a local agency provided an opportunity for students to gain valuable career skills and serve the community as they painted two murals at Avita Community Partners in Gainesville, Georgia.

Avita is a resource for individuals and families in northeast Georgia experiencing the disabling effects of mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and addictive diseases.

"The partnership seemed like a win-win to me as it provided our students the full experience of producing a public work of art in a classroom setting, while providing a community partner with a beautiful and beneficial mural that would have a positive impact on their residents," Jennifer Graff, Visual Arts department head, said.

Students in Erin McIntosh's special topics in mural painting class met with Avita representatives to pitch their design ideas and discussed how the projects would be created.

"My goal was that they would experience the whole process of mural making from start to finish, including meeting with the client to discuss their needs and wants. Then going through the whole process of design development and pitching those designs in a formal meeting with the Avita leadership team," McIntosh, an associate professor, said. "I told the students that I wanted them to come out of this class with the confidence that you can do this on your own."

Kayleigh Riker's design was developed based on a landscape featuring mountains, a lake, a field of flowers, and a sunset, reflective of the geography of north Georgia.

Basil Dabe was a supporting artist of the landscape, texturing the mountains and painting the water.

The partnership seemed like a win-win to me as it provided our students the full experience of producing a public work of art in a classroom setting, while providing a community partner with a beautiful and beneficial mural that would have a positive impact on their residents.

Jennifer Graff

UNG's Visual Arts department head

Lori Holbrook, Avita facility director, told McIntosh that in her 20 years with Avita, she had never seen murals painted in any of their facilities and that the murals "created a more welcoming environment for the people Avita serves."

"It was a wonderful opportunity to work out in the community," McIntosh said. "In terms of being current, there's just a lot of mural making happening all over the country, so it's very wise of us to be able to provide opportunities for students to learn the process of mural making because it could be something they could do in the future." 

Another support artist was Lula, Georgia's Samuel Justus, a senior who is pursuing a degree in psychology and a studio art minor. Justus said he wants to help others through art in his post-graduation counseling practice. He discovered his "superpower" while working on Riker's mural.

"Toward the end of the semester, I came up with my own idea to spruce up the landscape in front of the mountains," Justus said. "I marked my paintbrush in a way to create streaks, representations of blades of grass. The professor said I found my superpower: detail working. My classmates were impressed as well."

Lance Logan, a senior from Buford, Georgia was another support artist. He is pursuing a bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in painting.

Students in the Department of Visual Arts have also produced murals at the Midtown Villages at Melrose housing complex in Gainesville, Georgia, and the office of The Dahlonega Nugget newspaper in Dahlonega, Georgia, in recent years.

UNG offers a variety of bachelor's and associate degrees and a certificate in the Department of Visual Arts.