Change that can be seen: A look at campus murals

By Juanita I.C. Traughber, Communications Director

The most visible change project is the addition of a mural on the exterior back wall of Cheek Gym. Henry Stack ’23 presented the mural design as a competition using the prompt “entrances & exits” or “along the way” in 2020.

“We felt like it would present some thought-provoking and interesting designs. We also wanted to play on the positioning of the mural being at an entrance and exit and in a space that so many students interact with,” said Henry of the wall built during USN’s centennial construction at the foot of the basketball blacktop, hiding mechanical units and stairs from the Auditorium backstage.

About 150 students in grades K-12 shared designs, and a small group of faculty favored sketches by Asher Armstrong ’31, Annabelle Frank ’23, Boden Gulmi ’31, Seth Hauser ’28, James Keiper ’31, Emma Vogeli ’22, and Anna Wolf ’31. Henry worked with Norf Art Collective muralist and USN Art Teacher Joseph “doughjoe” Love to combine them into one design. They opened the process in May 2021 to anyone willing to pick up a brush or spray can.

“It was cool to see so many people, particularly from younger grades, contributing to this project,” Henry said. “I definitely feel like I’ve left some sort of mark on my school and so have so many other students.”

Art Teacher Joseph “doughjoe” Love and Henry Stack ’23 work on the mural in May 2021.

On the following pages is a look at other murals created by students, faculty, alumni, and Nashville artists at the Edgehill Campus. If you know of a previous PDS/USN mural that has faded into memory, we would love to hear from you and see pictures. Please email jtraugher@usn.org or write to Communications Director Juanita I.C. Traughber, 2000 Edgehill Ave. Nashville TN 37212.

During the 1986-1987 school year, Nashville artist Myles Maillie drew whimsical faces on a staircase that led to the photography lab and art classes. High School art students filled in his large sketches by painting bright colors. The stairwell now connects the first and second floors of Middle School, and Maillie returned in 2017 to expand the mural with students. The mural has become a USN icon and has been used on apparel, postcards, and the school directory. Mclaine Richardson ’04 created a limited edition jewelry collection inspired by the mural to benefit USN’s Artclectic Endowment Fund for Innovative Teaching in 2016.

The late Christine Slayden Tibbott — who taught art from 1942 to 1954, was known for designing and painting elaborate sets, and whose name is on the art building — returned to USN in 1988 to add several children’s book characters to the wall of the former Payne Library. According to the PDS/USN Archive, her version replaced a previous mural painted by students Ruth Mitchell ’71 and Donnyss Dotton Rucker ’71 that was lost in a library renovation. Tibbott’s lively, colorful world features people with creatures and characters. Since the original PDS library was subdivided, the mural is in what is now the Lower School Spanish classroom.

Adrien Saporiti ’06 painted “High Fidelity,” a mural of geometric shapes in a High School stairwell as a parting gift from the Class of 2017. “Very proud to have been asked and to contribute something to ye ole alma mater. Never won an award while I was there, but 11 years later I got to leave my mark,” he quipped. The design has been used on tote bags given to faculty. Saporiti has made a career as an artist, designer, and creative consultant whose iconic “I BELIEVE IN NASHVILLE” murals have united the city and become a destination for tourists.

The Class of 2025 and doughjoe connected USN with the city’s prominent Black communities in the 21st Avenue garage in 2018. Their project was the culmination of Fifth Grade Social Studies Teacher Connie Fink’s civil rights unit, which takes students out of the classroom and into Nashville neighborhoods to learn about their historic struggles. Using sketches from then-fifth graders, doughjoe pieced together a cohesive mural. High School students in Art Teacher Emily Holt’s Contemporary Practice class painted the base layers, and fifth graders painted wooden pieces affixed to the mural and flowers on the soccer field.

The 21st Avenue garage received its third round of school-approved graffiti in summer 2021 when Ryan Eck ’01 spray painted the school’s acronym on cinderblock. Director Vince Durnan financed the first two versions Eck painted in school colors while a High Schooler. Professional painters accidentally covered what they thought was vandalism — twice in 2000 and 2001. During a pandemic-era class reunion on Zoom, Durnan asked Eck, who started the Public Art Club as a student and now works as a graphic designer in Tampa, Florida, to tag USN again. nn