A Dip in the Koi Pond

OCSA students are familiar with the exquisitely painted murals throughout the campus, most notably the ones that are found in the tower. Most were created by OCSA Visual Arts seniors, contributing to the beautification of the campus before they graduate. Recently, there has been an addition to the collection of artwork, but this time not in the tower.

For the first time since the creation of the DMS, there is a new addition to these paintings in the Quad stairways. A team of visual arts students collaborated to paint a series of fish on each step! To gain further insight on the creative process, Evolution interviewed two senior Visual arts students, Miran Hassan and Sam Horio.

Hassan and Horio are both talented students in the conservatory, but possess differing art styles. Miran states, “My inspirations for my art is constantly changing, because I’m always finding new things that I love.” On the other hand, Sam expresses her art more from an internal place. She claims, “My inspirations for my art is trying to convey what I can’t say out loud. To me art is like a different language in the way of expressing feelings you can’t say directly.”

This is not only the artists first mural painted on the campus, but it was also their first time collaborating on a project this large and substantial.

Miran recalls, “At first I was overwhelmed and scared that it would be difficult to to create a beautiful cohesive painting with as many as 10 hands working on one canvas. But after the first session, we all understood the ideal ‘look’ we were going for and we used our strengths in certain aspects throughout the murals were all very diverse in their styles and such, which can be daunting, but we all had to trust one another with the confidence to work on the same piece.”

On the other hand, Sam thinks  “It wasn’t hard collaborating with others on the same because I feel at this point we all learned how to adjust and combine our different styles to create a uniform one.”

Fortunately OCSA’s visual arts program is rigorous enough to stretch their artistic boundaries.

“Visual Arts has prepared me for these daunting tasks through the multitude of opportunities offered to us to make artwork to be displayed or bought or donated.” Miran informs “So, as far back as 7th grade, I’ve been participating in the events offered.”

“VA prepared me to create the tasks through patience and perseverance. Personally I feel like if you just put in the time and effort you will be getting the equivalent result regardless of skill.” Sam says.

The stair murals beautify the campus, and catches our eye anytime we pass the DMS, thanks to these skilled and dedicated artists!