WINONA LAKE – Using the talents of 16 Grace College art students, there’s six art pieces painted on the outside wall of Tree of Life bookstore now for the public’s enjoyment. During a public event Friday from 7 p.m. to midnight, the community can take part in the unveiling of the artwork at 7:45 p.m. The five-hour event will include refreshments and music. The rain date is scheduled for Oct. 26. The paintings are on the Plaza side of the bookstore, between it and Grace Brethren Church. The story behind the paintings started a few years ago. According to Brethren Missionary Herald Operations Manager Ann Myers, BMH rented part of its building to the bookstore. The bookstore wanted windows filled in so they could have more wall space. As BMH was trying to figure out what to do with the outside of the building, Myers thought it would be fun to have murals by the Plaza for people to look at while they sit outside, drinking coffee or reading. Myers presented the idea to the Grace Art Department, which jumped on board with the idea. The project was offered to Grace students as an elective class – Art Integrations – they could earn college credits for. BMH, Grace professor Cindy Bryan and several of the students in the class met up. Myers told them what they wanted – paintings that had to do with life and the Tree of Life. Students came up with some concept drawings and presented them to Myers and Executive Director Liz Gates. There were too many “trees” in the concepts, so the students were sent back to the drawing board to come up with more variety. More concepts were drawn up and presented again. Myers, Gates and Tree of Life bookstore manager AJ Schemmer selected the six best concepts. While 16 students were involved, only three were able to sit down and talk Tuesday about their work as Grace College was on fall break. Seniors Justin Teffeteller, Scranton, Pa., and Stacey Schaub, Rockford, Mich., and junior Tenli Andersen, Oaxaca, Mexico, came up with three of the six concepts for the murals. Andersen said on the first day of class, they found out what was wanted of them, what they’d be doing and who were on the three teams. Each team was responsible for two murals. They also looked at the styles and colors that were desired for the art. “We understood (the class) was the first of its kind so we were kind of pioneering what the class would look like,” Teffeteller said. Each of the three groups had two team leaders who designated roles. Once the groups came up with their concepts, the team leaders then presented them to Myers and Gates, he said. The concept for the piece “A Sacred Gift” was by Teffeteller. Team members included Jason Bolt, Holton, Ind.; Joshua Dillman, Brazil, Ind.; Janna Lodwick, Novi, Mich.; Schaub; and Amber Treva Wilks, no hometown provided. Teffeteller said the mural is a comment on life from the Biblical world view. Life is complex and vast and harmonious, so the painting uses elements of iconography, naturalism, symbolism and abstractionism. The concept for an “untitled” piece was by Robbie Navarro, Crown Point. Team members included Andersen; Tiffany Featherston, no hometown provided; Mandy Fischer, Lindenhurst, Ill.; Navarro; and Alayna Robinson, Elmore, Ohio. Andersen came up with the concept for “Metanarrative.” Team members included herself, Featherston, Fischer, Navarro and Robinson. Andersen said the “Metanarrative” piece uses symbolism to create a metanarrative of life. Dillman came up with the concept for “Celtic Tree.” Team members included Bolt, himself, Lodwick, Schaub and Wilks. Katherin Yeargin, Orlando, Fla., came up with the concept for “Tree of Life.” Team members included Erick Anderson, Gurnee, Ill.; Gabrielle Clouse, Niles, Mich.; Cassie Gareiss, Columbia City; Justin Hoffman, Lima, Ohio; Teffeteller; and Yeargin. The concept for the last mural, “More Precious Than Rubies,” was by Schaub. Team members included Bolt, Dillman, Lodwick, herself and Wilks. Schaub said her piece is to be a strong representation of Proverbs 3. Her intention is for people to read Proverbs 3 and then see everything from that passage in the mural. Whether students were behind a painting’s concept or just helped with the actual painting, Schaub said she’s very happy with the outcome. “This forced us to develop our thoughts and art-making process,” said Teffeteller. “It was definitely a collaboration. Something I don’t do often, but it was so great.” “It was a pretty stretching project, but everything went smoothly,” said Andersen. She said the surface of the wall was very rough and porous, and she had to use a different paint medium than what she was used to. Working as a team definitely was different, she said, but it bonded the students. “The porous nature (of the wall) forced you as a creative person to adapt to the situation. Through that, you found things worked better than they did before. So I learned a lot from it,” said Teffeteller. Schaub said she never painted outside before, so that was different. “You are in the elements,” she said. “Yesterday was cold. You had to deal with a change of lighting.” Myers said students worked on the murals at night. Working on scaffolding also was a unique experience, Schaub added. But it was all worth it, she said, because while working on the murals she was able to talk to people from the community about what she was doing and about art. It was a big self-esteem boost for her. “People will see it all the time so you want to do your best job,” she said. “I got to talk to a lot of people about it.” Of the final murals, Bryan said, “These are amazing people and these are amazing results. The amount of work that went into it is outstanding and they did it!”
