A large painting recently installed front and center in the Office of Undergraduate Education captures the office’s emphasis on fostering community and building partnerships across the university.
The artist, DaMontá Madden, assistant director of out-of-state recruitment in the Office of Admissions, created Galaxy Picnic with encouragement from OUE leadership, including Scarlett Pontón de Dutton, director of campus advising initiatives and strategy; Shelly Bacon, associate vice provost for advising and exploratory studies; and Daryl Maeda, dean and vice provost of undergraduate education.
In support of his development as an artist, the colleagues invited Madden to create a painting that would, as Madden says, “cultivate a feeling of newness, transition, reflection and growth.” The painting is “a garden in the sky” that reflects Madden’s notion “that all lives are ephemeral.
“Galaxy Picnic is my ode to self-reflection, self-love and self-accountability, and the antiquated roots that extend to and through this evolution of never-ending, ephemeral life—everlasting community,” Madden said.
The painting, an inch short of 8 feet tall, contains acrylic, charcoal, oil pastel and 23-karat gold leaf (on the metal cables).
“Building a sense of community while deepening individual relationships is the flow that we want to be centered on here in the Office of Undergraduate Education,” Maeda said. “We are honored to have this original work in our suite and invite everyone to stop by to take a look and say hello.”
Office of Undergraduate Education
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