Alumni News
Calling All Alumni: The Murals Mosaic Art Project BY ALL ACCOUNTS, 2020 HAS BEEN a divisive and an explosive year, certainly politically, but not just because of all the political theater. Anyone who has lived through 2020 will never forget the pandemic, the freefall of the U.S. economy, the pall of racial injustice, the White Supremacy movement, and documented racial inequities tainting the past year. Excepting the pandemic, those influences are hardly unique to Americans from most any century. So how is the 21st century different? It marked the advent of arguably the biggest changemaker between the last century and this one—the rise of Internet use, fomenting umpteen new social media platforms as access to digital technologies increased. Events and fads flamed up, going viral on social media, in a fraction of the time it takes to make a television newscast or print a newspaper. Consider then the flaming out of Google+, Google Glass, Pokemon Go, Blackberry, hoverboards, the South Beach Diet, and very recently, the #MeToo movement—all with a seemingly volcanic rise, hastening to a short-lived heyday. As a consequence of working on restoring the murals, artist Dave Walsh said he would be curious to find out what today’s generation of students might have created in response to this year’s tumult of events and influences. Because of the new Murals Mosaic Community Art Project shepherded by the Office of Institutional Advancement, all alumni, students, employees, friends of the College, and anyone from the community have an opportunity to do just that, from Boomers to Gen Z, to everyone in between. “We are excited to kick off the Murals Mosaic project,”
said Melissa Samango, director of alumni relations and Murals Mosaic Committee Chair. “What better way to celebrate the restoration of Harcum’s murals than to showcase the talents of the community and capture the essence of what the world is like today—from politics, to pop culture, to personal journeys—to share with future generations of Harcum students.” This companion project was conceived to premiere during the restored murals gallery show opening this fall and builds on the Harcum Centennial crowdsourced art project “Bears and Squares,” operating with comparable parameters and reach. Harcum has invited artists and aspiring artists to design a freestanding 10” x 10” square in the same spirit as the historic murals but reflecting the present-day theme, “This Moment in Time.” All artists should peg their squares to a present day event, trend, or issue from any arena, from politics to pop culture. All completed squares will be considered for incorporation into a contemporary mosaic to be displayed at the same time as the restored murals. Anyone may request a square be mailed to them by filling out a form from the Harcum website. Artists must provide all other materials. And any medium may be used—oil, watercolor, charcoal, fabric, beads, yarn, mixed media. All ages welcome to participate. Squares must be returned to the Office of Institutional Advancement by May 31, 2021. Murals Mosaic submissions by Lilian Crooks (left) and Raelynn Ferencsik.
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