Hundreds of VCU students visit the James Branch Cabell Library every day. Others view it as just another building. But now many are taking a second look at the library ? all because of a giant mural beneath the front entrance of the second floor staircase.
“To say the least, it is interesting, very colorful and a good entrance piece for the library,” said Michael Gasser, a sophomore chemistry major.
The mural showcases the Monroe Park and the VCU Medical Center campuses, plus it integrates the major buildings and other sites on both campuses.
For instance, it features the historic Egyptian Building, the University Student Commons, the new Shafer Court Dining Center, the Shafer Court compass on the ground just outside the library and other well-known sites. It also displays such Richmond sites as the skyline overlooking the James River, the Monroe Park statue fountain and some residential areas.
“It’s cool how they used different locations at VCU,” said Priscilla Umana, a senior psychology major, who also liked its integration of the city into one space. “It sets it apart from other campuses in the area.”
Sarah Barbara Watstein, Cabell’s associate librarian, became instrumental in approving the mural as part of the library’s design.
“We wanted a mural that would represent the diversity of the VCU experience, the diversity of community and of both the Monroe Park and VCU Medical Center campuses and the diversity of the degree programs,” she explained. “Basically, it had to represent the relationship of VCU to the surrounding areas of Richmond.”
Janet Gilmore-Bryan, an adjunct professor in the art foundation program, supervised the creation of the mural.
“I have been teaching mural class since 2000,” she said. “Basically people call me and tell me they want a mural. We (the mural class) meet with them a year ahead of time. I met with the librarians, Sarah Watstein and John Ulmschneider, and they told us what they wanted.”
One of the mural’s features that students said they especially like concerned the attention it attracts when they walk down the stairs from the second floor to the first.
“It’s visually interesting,” said Ty Miller, a freshman political science major. “It’s not something you see every day.”
Gary Zhu, a junior finance major, called the mural a great improvement to the library as far as peacefulness is concerned.
It is a representation that this is the voice of the students,” he said.
“Most of my friends liked it because it is so relaxing. Because the mural relaxes you, it is easy to concentrate on studying.”
Justin Beck, a senior political science major, sees the mural as doing just that.
“The mural gives the library a little more atmosphere,” he said. “It shows the diversity and the general look of VCU. I remember when they started work on it. I thought it was a good idea, and I think that there should be more paintings like this around.”
Gilmore-Bryan described the mural’s design on three walls as one that gives it a live effect.
“I teach three-dimensional and two-dimensional design,” she said. “I like the feel of the surroundings, and it turned out beautiful. I have even come to the library a few times incognito, and people who were gloomy and gray brighten up when they look at this mural. That makes me feel good knowing that this painting stirs up good emotions.”
Gilmore-Bryan also designs other murals in Richmond.
“We’ve done murals at the MCV Hospital, the Hospitality House, MCV pediatrics and the ER waiting room. We also did the nurses and charter station,” Gilmore-Bryan said. “The most inspiring and most involved mural I did was in the Virginia Holocaust Museum. And right now, we’re working on a mural for the School of World Studies here at VCU.”
Angela Worris, one of the artists, said that is the sort of thing that she and the other creators of the mural intended.
“It was a class project. Originally we were going to do one wall, and then we decided for impact three walls would probably be more essential because it surrounds you,” she said. “That way we can put in more diversity in some of the people and architecture.”
For some students, “diversity” became the key word to describe the mural as they looked at it. To Robbie Coates, a former student who recently visited the library, the mural has a special meaning of diversity to him.
“This mural portrays what students do when they are not in class,” he said. “It gives a good depiction of what VCU is all about. This mural is a good portrait of what is outside these walls.”
Aaron Tenenbaum, a senior history major, also sees the art as diverse in his own way.
“It is a big push to turn VCU into more of a campus community,” he said.
“I think this is what this painting represents.”
Adam James, a first-year marketing/accounting major, concurred with Tenenbaum’s opinion.
“I like it (the mural) because it embodies the whole VCU campus and features all sides of Richmond from the recreational side to the historical side,” he said.
Even students in the communication arts and design program, especially Alicia Duffy and Allison Apperson, saw the benefits of the artwork.
“This mural can be seen as an accurate representation of VCU life,” Duffy said, while Apperson described it as bringing artistic quality to the library.
“I personally never noticed it before, but it is colorful,” Apperson said. “It makes our library less boring.”
Since students painted the mural, Meagen Smith, a senior religious studies major, viewed it as making the library more student-friendly.
“It makes it more like ‘our library’ and it gives us a voice and shows that we care about VCU as well,” she said, expressing awe with its design.
Watstein, who perhaps sees the mural dozens of times a day in her librarian position, suggested that the work represents more than just a painting.
“I believe that the mural is alive,” she said. “It has energy and spirit that draws people in. It showcases the diversity of the university and emphasizes the role of the library as a creative and intellectual partner in the creation.
“The main theme is diversity — the theme we wanted the students to express. I wish we had done more of these murals in the building.”
(Curtis Clark, editor of Prince George County High School’s newspaper, contributed to this story.)