Centennial Mural
Creating the Centennial Mural
Explore the creation of the centennial mural from start to finish.
“Collaborative art efforts can harmonize, heal, and help bring people together through offering a chance for people to freely share their perspectives and work together.”
Purpose of a Community Mural
Muralist Tia Richardson says, “Collaborative art efforts can harmonize, heal, and help bring people together through offering a chance for people to freely share their perspectives and work together. We’re all parts connected to a greater whole. Despite having different experiences and ways of looking at things, community murals can help people see what we have in common and that we each have something of value to contribute to the larger whole to make it better.”
Mural Photos
Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin joins the first community mural painting session alongside artist Tia Richardson.
Community members of all ages participate in the first painting session.
Community members add layers of paint to the centennial mural.
Dean Linda Scott previews the finished mural design.
Community members paint the centennial mural.
Tia Richardson and her assistant work on the mural in Cooper Hall.
Tia Richardson paints the swan’s wing as her assistant looks on.
Tia Richardson and her assistant work on scaffolding to paint the top of the mural.
Tia Richardson unveils the finished mural.
The School of Nursing community admires the finished artwork at the mural reveal party.
Dean Linda Scott and Tia Richardson in front of the finished mural.
“Our centennial year provides an opportunity to reflect on our history. In addition to celebrations, our legacy of excellence and impact deserves to be commemorated in a beautiful, meaningful, and lasting way. I believe this mural can inspire us to envision how we will continue to impact health, build equity, and change lives in the future.”
About the Artist
Tia Richardson is a full-time community mural artist based in her hometown of Milwaukee, WI, and beyond. In 2003, she graduated with an associate degree in graphic design from Milwaukee Area Technical College. Since 2007, her work has evolved into collaborative art efforts that offer community members from all walks of life a chance to freely express their feelings about their community.
Tia was awarded Artist of the Year by the Milwaukee Arts Board in 2018, and she has completed over 60 murals in collaboration with non-profits, K-12 and post-secondary schools, businesses, and local government. In 2017 and 2020, she produced two short films about her projects, Sherman Park Rising and Rockford Taking Flight. In 2022, she celebrated the launch of her first children’s book, Caring All Around Me, and an accompanying workbook on healthy relating published by Orange Hat Publishing. Her art, films, and book can be viewed on her website.
She believes in the power of shared experience to create a sense of belonging and mutual appreciation of what we each can contribute to the bigger whole to make it better. Documentation of her efforts in the news, print, television, and film shows evidence how, despite our differences, we can work together for the common good.