Places of Change
by Samaya L.

Samaya's Place

I took this picture of the wall mural inside of the Rick Case Arena, located in front of the UC pit.

I find this mural incredibly interesting with all of the vibrant colors and unique patterns that the artist incorporated.

What feels important to me about this mural is that I believe it represents me as an artist, and how I would like to paint and design murals in the future to be seen on buildings. The location of this mural is incredibly busy since it is located in front of the UC pit, which people find is the perfect spot to be social and involved with others, reflecting my busy thoughts and schedule that I have most of the time. I made it seem that my shark in this picture is swimming near the bigger shark in the mural, rather than towards the bigger shark’s mouth. This is because I wanted to maintain the sense of "community" and "togetherness" in this scene, where the humanoid shark girl and the shark next to her seem to have a peaceful feeling or tolerance toward each other. By adding my shark, I feel like a more peaceful "vibe" was added to this piece, representing my peacefulness as a person. I feel like the UC pit can represent a change in making our community more of a peaceful and accepting place of people of different appearances, nationality, or cultures. This can also be seen from this mural in front of the UC, because the shark and humanoid shark girl seem to be accepting of each other, despite being different. This place can also help my peers or other people see things from my eyes and change into more open-minded and accepting people, seen by the sense of community that the UC provides to the college students that all collaborate and hang out with each other. This change can be seen or incorporated through the art seen at the UC, the theaters located near it, or other locations nearby that can help my peers and other people openly express themselves and be in sync with others. I want to create a change where people can openly express themselves through different forms of art, or feel free to have a community where they can openly express themselves.