School Of Communication & The Arts Receives New Designs

Green Hall’s walls aren’t green. They’re gray. At least, they used to be. 

Many of Green Hall’s walls are now decorated with vivid murals that represent each of the academic departments under The School of Communication & the Arts (SCA) that Green Hall houses. 

Each SCA department received its own thematic graphic mural featuring figures and symbols that reflect each department’s focus. For example, the mural for the strategic communications major uses quotation marks to symbolize the major’s focus on words and stories. 

A venture of this scale needed funding and approval from Liberty’s Center for Research and Scholarship (CRS). With this funding came an opportunity to make something exceptional, and by all accounts, something exceptional was made. 

Professors Brianna O’Neal and Stacy Cannon headed a team of students who worked closely together on this project for over a year. The group consisted of five graduate students and four undergraduates in addition to the two faculty members. All of them held different responsibilities in their pursuit of one goal — to make meaningful art with unique but cohesive designs.

“Creating an aesthetic that could exist secondary to the larger university brand had to be considered and was quite difficult,” O’Neal said. “It was a challenge appealing to different aesthetic preferences from the departments while also encouraging a collaborative, school-wide approach.”

It was not an easy process for the team, according to members. The project took many, many revisions and different iterations.  The team’s reflection on the research process spanned an 80-page document. But in the end, the murals have tied the different areas of study together. 

The necessity of this redesign surfaced after two of Liberty’s schools merged into one. In 2020, the School of Visual and  Performing Arts (SVPA) and the School of Communication & Digital Content (SCDC) united into the new School of Communication & the Arts. 

However, the change came with a few complications. Jessie Pool, a former student who was a part of the team working on the murals, said the need for something thematic was greater after the merge. 

“This left the space very outdated with old directional signs, outdated promotional material, (etcetera),” she said.

But, with the hard work and dedication of the team, obstacle became opportunity. They did more than just shuffle things around to fit the new mold. Months of research brought the team to a new and refreshing design.

“We knew it needed to be a visual solution,” Pool said. “The motivation behind the artwork was to provide fun visuals to previously gray walls, provide directional signage (and) promote creativity and collaboration for all SCA students.”

Over a year and a half later, the murals are up. The walls are alive with new splashes of color. Pool expressed gratitude for the opportunity and was moved by such a positive response. 

“The response from the students was better than we expected,” she said. “It is so cool seeing the project come to life on the walls.”

blevins is a feature reporter.

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