VCU news

By Kimberly Separ and Sarah Watstein
VCU Libraries

More than 100 Virginia Commonwealth University students, faculty, staff, neighbors, friends and members of the local art community recently attended the official dedication of the James Branch Cabell Library mural, which reaches from the first to the second floor.

The mural is the work of VCU School of the Arts’ adjunct professor Janet Gilmore-Bryan’s Communication Arts, Illustration, Drawing and Visual Studies class. The mural’s design showcases VCU’s energy and rich cultural diversity, and was created and painted by the students.

Dedication ceremonies included remarks by VCU President Eugene P. Trani, Ph.D.; Stephen D. Gottfredson, Ph.D., interim provost and vice president for academic affairs; Joe Seipel, assistant dean, School of the Arts; and Janet Gilmore-Bryan, adjunct faculty member in VCU’s Communication Arts, Illustration, Drawing and Visual Studies program; and Sarah Barbara Watstein, associate university librarian for public services.

Dr. Trani acknowledged the VCU art students’ efforts in designing and creating the mural, and commended John Ulmschneider, university librarian, and VCU Libraries’ staff for successfully collaborating with Gilmore-Bryan and her students on the project.

It is fitting that the mural is located in the James Branch Cabell Library, in the heart of the Monroe Park Campus, the “center of academic life,” as evidenced by the 1.1 million visitors who came through its doors last year, Dr. Trani said.

Dr. Trani said the mural is a graphic demonstration of the VCU arts students’ profound talent.

“It is fitting that so many people will be able to appreciate it,” he said, adding that he believed the mural “captures well the soul of the university,” and emphasizes the diversity of the university community.

Gottfredson said the mural celebrates both the Monroe Park and MCV campuses.

“We are one university working towards one future, and I am delighted that this strong statement is designed by our students,” he said.

Gilmore-Bryan’s students faced eight challenges with the mural project— researching the images that met the library’s needs; selecting materials that adhere to a strict budget; bringing the project in on budget and on deadline; learning to use materials appropriate to the surface; learning to work on a large scale; learning to “always be nice and accommodating to clients who are always looking over their shoulder;” learning how to work and collaborate with others; and learning to accept the large risk of placing art in a heavily trafficked and very public place.

A professional mural artist with a demonstrated track record of successful public art projects in the Richmond area, Gilmore-Bryan has been teaching the VCU mural class since 2000.

To view a history of the library mural project on the Web, visit the VCU Libraries Web site www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/mural/.

For more information, contact Kimberly Separ, development and community relations officer at 827-1163, or Sarah Barbara Watstein at 882-9236.