Hands of Hanover
Project Type
College Course + Community Mural
Year completed
2019
Dimensions
16’ x 32’
Client
Hanover College
Location
Hanover, IN
Many Hands Make Light Work
The mural Hands of Hanover was the culminating project of a course I taught at Hanover College in southern Indiana. In the words of my 11 students:
A lot of hands came together to make this mural. At the beginning of May term, eleven students enrolled in the Large-Scale Painting class stood looking at a small design on a piece of paper, wondering how they were going to turn it into the 32-foot long mural that you see before you now.
Together, they accomplished this feat by transferring the design onto sixteen panels that fit together to create the overall image. Inspiration for the colors and style came from Thomas Hart Benton, a midwestern regionalist painter. Members of the local community were involved in the painting process during painting events each Friday.
This mural is meant to represent the inner workings of Hanover, Madison, and the college. The motif of hands represents those who built and continue to support and shape our community. The hands depict the kinds of work that keeps things running on a daily basis. The hands are placed in a circle to represent the connectivity of the community and its dependence on all members.
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