Students vie for University wall

Greg Sinn dreams in color.

Even the subject of his latest dream, the almost literal blank… Greg Sinn dreams in color.

Even the subject of his latest dream, the almost literal blank slate of David Lawrence’s eastern wall, he sees alive in bold hues.

Sinn hopes to secure the backing of the University to paint a large-scale mural along the gray walkway between David Lawrence Hall and Hillman Library. Helping him are fellow student Nicole Kielkucki, faculty adviser Ken Boas and, he hopes, the assistance of Sprout Public Art, a feature of the non-profit organization the Sprout Fund that commits resources toward making Allegheny County a more attractive place to live.

“The motivation for the project came from the wall itself. A few other students and I agreed that it was a really unpleasant space and would be a great spot for a mural,” Sinn said.

Since forming the plan earlier this week, Sinn and Kielkucki have been organizing the logistic side of the project, polling student groups, completing Sprout’s grant application and creating a project proposal to formally pitch to the University.

“Really, this project is falling into my hands,” Sinn said. “It’s not my project, it’s the community’s. I’m not the community, so we want to make sure we get diverse input.”

The early stages of the project’s development stress the importance of community-wide input beyond just the students and faculty at Pitt. Sinn wants to take into account the desires of local non-affiliates who walk by the site every day.

Sprout grants are awarded to communities more so than individuals. One of the main tenets of the grant system is fostering the communication and shared vision of an artist and the community where the art projects are commissioned.

“If a community is selected to receive a mural, they view artists’ portfolios,” said Curt Gettman, Public Art Program Manager at Sprout.

“While communities are ranking artists, artists are ranking communities,” Gettman said, noting that the factors that influence artists’ preferences are largely the same as those that influence communities’ preferences.

“It’s really up to the community how much artistic freedom they want to allow an artist,” Gettman said. And the artists base their rankings on how closely they share the community’s vision.

Sprout’s artist-applicant pool receives between 40 and 50 new applicants each year. An internal public art committee comprised of arts and community leaders then narrowed down artists’ portfolios.

Finally, with a wide range of artists to choose from, selected communities review a number of artist portfolios, whittling the number down to about three final contenders for the commission. They ultimately decide upon one artist to fund.

Sprout mediates the entire process and then pays for materials and the artist’s fee – a perk Sinn touts in his proposal as it means the project is free to the University.

In order to make this project a truly communal effort, Sinn and Kielkucki have spoken to members of student groups like the Oakland Tea House and Hillel Jewish University Center and hope to secure an audience with Student Government Board and others to ask for suggestions and support.

“I think students agree that we would like to break the precedent. As of now we can say that there are no murals on our campus, and I don’t think that’s a positive thing to say about a university,” Sinn said.

By the end of the week, Sinn hopes to have 25 signatures on a petition in favor of the project from different members of the community.

“The design is the least important aspect to me because I have so much confidence in Sprout,” Sinn said. “They have such a good track record, and I don’t see how anyone could think the space would look better without one of their murals there.”

Since the final application to Sprout is due Friday, Sinn and Kielkucki will meet with different members of the University this week to ask for approval. “We’ve spoken to the [University] architect, Park Rankin, through our adviser, Ken Boas, but we have yet to formally propose the idea to him,” Sinn said.

Rankin could not be reached for comment.

“It’s a stressful thing for us to approach the University because I feel like we’ve got one shot at this,” Sinn said. “But it’s a great project, and I think they’ll be behind us for it.”