ENT and UCCS reveal new student-created mural

On Wednesday, Feb. 17, Ent Federal Credit Union and UCCS unveiled a new mural to be displayed in the University Center for roughly the next 18 months.

This was the third mural that showcased the relationship between the on campus credit union and the university. The three students who created the mural were visual arts majors: juniors Edna Price and Clarianne Medina, and senior Ashley Thompson.

These students were chosen by Associate Professor of Visual and Performing Arts Valerie Brodar, who served as a contextual advisor to the students and also was the liaison between Ent and the student team of artists. Brodar picked these three students because of "the quality of their work, their openness to ideas, willingness to work collaboratively, and their technical abilities."

The students each received a check from Ent for 300 dollars for their work, and are excited to see their work displayed so prominently. The mural, called CommuniCircle, "represents the relationship between Ent and the student body," said Thompson. "It's our generation speaking," commented Price.

This year's mural is essentially a digital collage of photos of students and highlights Ent's logo. "We wanted to bring the logo into prominence," said Thompson of the idea for the design of the mural. It was a group project that sent each artist into the field individually to take  pictures around campus and even use photographs of themselves. According to Medina, the most difficult aspect of the piece was "composing it. We wondered, how we were going to make this all happen?" The group dedicated itself to "countless hours" of work from October to December, said Thompson.

Ent Senior Vice President James Moore, who oversees marketing and communication, has been a part of the mural projects since Ent joined UCCS three and a half years ago. He expressed how impressed he was that the students were able "to take a commercial logo and turn it into a work of art." Compared to previous year's murals, he feels that this year's project "better reflects personalities of students involved," and asserted that "the three women that worked on it gave it more cohesion."

The guidelines that Ent requires the students follow are loose and can be chalked up to two main points. The art must be noncontroversial and should embody the relationship between Ent and UCCS.

Did the students succeed? "Absolutely," said Brodar. Thompson wasgrateful for the opportunity.