Slab Face of Concrete Color

 Before                                              After

Inspired by the mural art at http://arrestedmotion.com/2012/03/london-largest-mural-by-agents-of-change/ , Streets: London’s largest mural by Agents of Change. I liked the creative use of vibrant colors and the number of insets and outsets. Unlike the mural in London I chose to use actual images instead of modern art but the use of colors and scale were my inspiration.  I chose the large flat wall because it offered a challenge to get my image to wrap the offset wall. I chose an image of a bouquet of flowers as the mural because Mesa College has a lack of color. I feel this mural turns a simple grey wall into a brilliantly colored piece of art. -Chris Boyer

"The Educational Trap" - John Martinez

My art installation "The Educational Trap" is meant to give Mesa college a bit of color and life.  I used the flies and fly swatter to symbolize the trap feeling many students including myself have felt during finals, thought it was appropriate. The flies symbolize the many ways you can take your career path and the swatter being the pressures of everyday life trying to get you down. Heavy street art influence like Shepard Fairey and Banksy gave me this idea to do this piece as well as a lot of Ron English's pieces on social problems. Mesa college seems to be a bit bland and uninspiring with grey and blue being the only featured colors around campus except mural by the cafeteria.  By bringing some more color and life I believe it would inspire student to work harder in their studies.

- John Martinez

"Sculptural Bliss" – Tania Kelvin

 My proposal is for a bronze sleeping dog statue to be placed in the large cement courtyard area adjacent to the art buildings, art gallery, and Student Services/Library building. I am actually the artist and the only one existing is the original, approximately 15 inches long. It will greatly improve this part of the Mesa College campus by offering a unique contemporary original piece as well as being functional as a place to sit, lean, or climb on. It would also make a great “meeting spot” destination for students.

The sleeping dog is smooth and modern, but brings a blissful feeling to viewers. Students are busy and this will remind them to take a moment to rest and they can…on the sculpture. Additionally, it brings an animal figure (and awareness) to campus in a non-threatening way (being this large).

Although I enjoyed researching the various artists on the KPBS series website about Art in the 21^st Century, however the closest influence to what I am presenting is “Bear,” the sculpture by Tim Hawkinson…of the Stuart Collection. It is a much larger scale, but both are animals that evoke joy by people who view and interact with them.

I believe I should win this competition since I am an emerging modern artist, a Mesa College student, this sculpture is functional art, and can be enjoyed from all angles as students walk around it. We live in a 3D world and pop culture is proving how popular that is with all the 3D games and movies emerging. This is long lasting art, being bronze to last over time, gets better with age, and can be seen as a different piece from every angle. – Tania Kelvin

Lawn Chess - Stephanie Huynh

Having studied the works from the UCSD Stuart Collection, I was inspired by Richard Fleischner's "La Jolla Project" (aka campus Stonehenge).  I like that students on campus can interact with each other on and around his project.  They are able to sit on some of the pieces and talk with each other, or study, or have a meeting.  My intention for having life-size chess pieces on one of Mesa's lawns is to allow students a chance to do the same.  Students can take a break from their studies and play a friendly game of chess.  Others can sit on the lawn and watch other students play chess.  My proposal will make the campus a better place because it will be focal point with which students can use to "break the ice" with each other.  A means for students that may not share any other common interests, to get to know each other. 

- Stephanie Huynh

Experience California

Since I have never been to Mesa College I can not say where this location is at. What I am trying to achieve with these pictures is to get people outdoors and experience the simpler things in this state that are also our most precious treasures. Since I've lived in San Diego I noticed that many people like myself are not from here. Many people are not even from this state and do not realize how much beauty and enrichment it has to offer outside of our beaches. Hopefully, pictures like these will inspire people to venture out more in nature and in turn, be more proactive in keeping our natural surroundings in tact.

Ben Hasdovic

Soaring through the Gates of Knowledge by John Durazo

In my piece I wanted to add more color, inspiration, and life to one of the many long forgotten entrances leading into Mesa College. Many students don’t see this entrance to the school because faculty parking that now surrounds this area. Because of this I feel that many of the staff and faculty don’t the mind plane look. However I choose this area as my piece to inspire and give the teachers or staff a reminder to the inner student in all of them. Even though they have long graduated from their respected schools and gained lots of knowledge, there will always be room to learn and explore and discover new things not only from books and lesson but from students and art. Students can also see this art when passing by to class or a stroll around campus for a shaded area and be reminded that the possibilities in life are endless just as the color spectrum that is above them and the inspiring words that lead into the campus.

"Mesa College: Where dreams continue, and where dreams are fulfilled" by Arthur Wilson

Since Mesa is kind of dull all over, I feel that it needs some color to the mix. When you enter the school, for many of us, the first building we see while upon entering is this new Allied Health building at the entrance. Gray is very neutral and dull of a color, not meant to garner attention at all, so how about color? Color is only the aesthetic here, Color is fine, but a mural must have meaning correct? My choice of using President Barack Obama as the subject is because I believe that he embodies hope. The name of this mural would be called, "Mesa College: Where dreams continue, and where dreams are fulfilled". The president had all kind of mental enemies against him like many college students of today. Some are first generation Americans and were told that they would fail. Some are minority and were told that the cards were stacked against. Our great president proved that all of these barriers were merely talk and mental by going for his dreams and becoming president of the United States. Having the colors of America in the picture is as that of unity of all Americans.- Arthur Wilson