Street Art Project Finds a Home on Ophelia Parrish

The north side of Ophelia Parrish is the location of the newest – albeit, temporary – student-created art project.
 
This semester, students in Printmaking I, II and III have participated in a wheat-pasting project. In this style, paper artwork is installed on a surface with a liquid adhesive made from wheat flour and water. Because it is versatile and temporary, the practice used to be a popular way to display posters and other public signage. Laura Naioti, associate professor of art, had her students experiment with wheat-pasting after using it herself on a smaller scale in some spots around Kirksville.
 
The wheat-paste art on Ophelia Parrish was installed in mid-October. The project required large linoleum blocks, as well as large rolls of mulberry paper, and was made possible through funding from the Art Department. Along with adding a splash of beauty to campus, the project’s accessibility categorizes it as street art.
 
“Street art is considered to be community-oriented because a viewer does not need to enter an art space to be greeted with the art,” Naioti said.
 
As for the aesthetic of the work, the class brainstormed a concept together and decided to depict fauna that is native to Missouri, and to include other elements that relate to the food chain on either side of the depicted creatures.
 
“We also tried to incorporate a decorative design element that would make the images look good if tiled in a repeat pattern of the same image or tiled together,” Naioti said. “I encouraged students to consider negative space, texture and contrast reversal in their imagery. Ultimately, we wanted to celebrate native fauna and ecosystems in an accessible way.”
 
Anyone interested in viewing the art should do so sooner, rather than later. Because the wheat-paste mixture is water soluble, this installation is intended to be temporary and is subject to the elements. There may be more wheat-paste projects popping up beyond campus in the future. Naioti is in conversation with some local building owners to do similar projects in the community.  
 
“I particularly want to paste the imagery downtown in Kirksville to bring some vibrancy and add art to the townscape,” she said.