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Our Murals
The spirit of aesthetic achievement, always so progressively stimulated by the art department has reached a new rallying-point in the extensive fresco under way in the library. The murals, which even in their present incipient state have created new enthusiasm in the student body, and especially among the advanced art students, are being painted by James Michael Newell, an artist of considerable capability, who has studied fresco painting in France, and who is an eager exponent of the comparatively recent movement to revive in its true form this ancient branch of art. The subject of the mural is the industrial advancement of the West from the crude methods of the red race to the scientific accomplishment of present-day America. Evander, returning from its summer vacation some months ago, found its library full of strange alterations, the more inexplicable because of the quiet atmosphere that room has always preserved. Carpenters in baggy overalls were fitting new pieces of woodwork where the old was in good condition. The bas-relief of the singers who once chanted their mute hymn interminably from the back wall was replaced now by an empty space, somewhat cleaner than the wall around it. The library classroom was a forbidden wilderness of stepladders, paint vessels, and dusty rolls of paper, and, most startling of all, our electric clock no longer occupied its admonishing place above the centre door. All these were preliminary steps to the three successive stages in the making of a fresco: the removal of the old plaster from the wall space to be painted upon; the slow restoration of the wall by layer after layer of fresh plaster; and' finally, the applying of the fresco paint before the last coat of plaster has hardened. Before the project could be started, an estimate had to be prepared and sent to the PWA of the total cost of the mural, including painting materials and paid labor for carpenters, electricians, and plasterers. When the estimate was finally approved, and money sent in, laborers immediately began to de-plaster the walls. In many places work was unexpectedly obstructed by the appearance of sets of wire connections for the lights and the electric clock, and when, after long delays, they finally broke through to the bare wall, it was only to find that many irregularities in its surface made further work impossible. To install the light switches where they would not hinder work on the mural, to remove the clock and place it over the entrance to the teachers' alcove, where it will subsequently be hung, and to level the wall to a single surface, was a matter of time and labor, and that in turn, meant a heavy additional cost. The estimate was revised and sent to the PWA headquarters in its new form. After much red-tape, the necessary appropriations were forwarded, and the preliminary work was resumed. Mr. Newell was able to begin actual painting early this term, and as has been seen, his work has progressed rapidly from the small sketch to the life-size drawing, and, finally, to the wall by means of a medium that is not common paint, but a compound specially prepared for fresco painting that dries with the plaster and becomes as permanent. The color, a trifle murky when first applied, later turns clear and brilliant. For this reason the final layer of plaster must be applied in small areas, proportionate to the amount of space the artist can cover before hardening sets in. The boundaries of these areas, must, wherever possible, coincide with natural lines in the mural, such as the belt in a man's clothing or the side of a house, because when the painted section is dry, a faint but distinct line forms at the margin, distinguishing one day's painting abruptly from the work of another. In the light of these considerations, coupled with the fact that the smallest mistake can only be eradicated with great difficulty by chipping out the plaster, the task of the artist can be seen to be one of truly tremendous weight, and it is therefore with the greatest sincerity that we bid all-power to Mr. Newell.
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