A new project at the El Camino College Art Gallery is giving students the opportunity to propose and create mural designs for buildings on campus.
Students can submit design proposals in various mediums, including collages, photography, written works, videos, illustrations and paintings.
There are no theme restrictions for submissions, and there is no set deadline.
“I’m always looking for ways to put art on campus. Rather than having professional muralists come in, let’s give our students the opportunity to experiment with art,” Michael Miller, director of gallery and museum programming, said.
Students can visit the Art Gallery, which has turned into a mural studio, to receive guidance on submitting mural designs for the project.
The Art Gallery has begun mapping murals for areas including the Arts Complex, Campus Theatre, the Behavioral and Social Sciences Building, and the Math Business Allied Health Building.
“It will be up to the deans of the divisions to decide which submissions will be chosen. We aren’t making the final call,” Art Gallery associate Carrie Lockwood said.
The Associated Students Organization has provided $11,000 to the Art Gallery for various programs, including the mural project.
For the project, the Art Gallery is partnering with the Experimentally Structured Museum of Art, a nonprofit focused on experimental exhibitions, community engagement, and arts education, located in Lawndale, California, according to ESMoA’s website.
About 270 painters are needed to work on the murals, which will be temporary and not painted directly onto walls. Some painters may work on multiple murals, Lockwood said.
ESMoA has also partnered with Kunstakademie Münster, the University of Fine Arts Münster. This collaboration will bring 30 German students to Southern California to help bring these murals to life.
Students will get the chance to meet with students from Kunstakademie, who will visit ECC during the third week of March to work on a project and an exhibit in the main hall of the Arts Complex.
They will also create and paint a mural of their own for the Arts Complex.
“I’m hoping around this time next year, our students here will be able to visit the Fine Arts University in Germany,” Miller said.
In addition, the Art Gallery is designing a mobile mural on wheels. A blank canvas will be available along with art materials, which will allow all students to contribute as it makes its way around campus.
Mural designs that are not selected will have the chance to be featured in a Chalk Mural event in late May, where students can create their mural using chalk.
The Art Gallery expects to have the murals completed for an exhibit in the fall of 2025.
“A lot of what we do is to give students a place to come and relax and destress,” Miller said.
