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Many art students at PSU are great at what they do, but one student stands out, and that is senior in fine arts Abby McCoy.
This semester McCoy is participating in a mural painting class where she gets to collaborate with her fellow classmates, professor, and local business owners about painting murals here at PSU and in downtown Pittsburg.
“This class is a great way for students to get the initial learning experience of working directly with clients and getting to see their work scaled up to these murals, seeing it all work out in the end,” said James Oliver, chair of the art department.
The class does mural paintings and typically does two-three murals per semester. The class’s first project was painting a mural in Porter Hall, and the design picked was McCoy’s. The class is almost finished with the mural, and the experience doing it in class has been great for all of those students.
“It was a giant bonding experience. We were all talking with music going and it’s great to be able to see everyone’s strong suits while painting,” said Deanna Willbee, senior in art education.
McCoy believes that one of the best things about having these murals on the sides of buildings downtown is great because people don’t have to stop and come inside an art museum to see them. People are able to drive by and see the murals almost unintentionally.
The class teaches students about applying for grants, and members of the class have a grant which helps with funding the panels and paints for the murals. McCoy was excited to join the class, and hopes it prepares her for the future.
“I decided to join the class because it has a very unique and specific skill set to learn how to do larger scale works. Hopefully in the future, if I get the opportunity to do more mural work, this class will benefit in the way that I have this experience,” McCoy said.
“My hope is that if students decide to take mural painting as a career, they know how to price these things (murals) and be able to work with the clients,” Oliver said.
Other students in the class really have loved being able to work together on them and collaborate with each other as well as show off their skills to fellow students in Porter Hall.
“With the mural in Porter Hall, it really brightens up the space there and people are able to represent Pittsburg, and it really is powerful with students showcasing their work,” said Morgan Cravens, junior in art education.
Starting this October, McCoy and the rest of the class will be painting a mural downtown on the side of Main Street Axe Company on Broadway, with a design by Hannah Kinsey, senior in illustration, and the mural should be finished at the end of the month for all Pittsburg residents to see.