The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s ART 101 Basic Design class is participating in a campus-wide project to make their (temporary) statement on the University. The students were tasked with creating “tape art” installations, using painter’s tape and a whole lot of imagination.

The projects are being displayed throughout campus—in Folsom/Pullen Hall, Gentile Hall, Center for Innovative Learning, Emerson Hall, Normal Hall, Merriman Hall, Park Hall, Preble Hall, and the Campus Center. Using painter’s tape, students are creating artwork that includes everything from falling dominoes to an enormous cat playing with a ball of yarn.

Community members are encouraged to visit campus and view the numerous creations dreamt up by the Basic Design students. While some of the installations won’t be available for viewing due to their locations in campus dormitories, all others are available for public viewing. The creations include:

• A plane with clouds and wind, located on the second floor of Pullen Hall, by Alyssa Summerson and Sara Hemingway.
• “The Blob,” located in the first to second floor stairwell of Folsom Hall, by Ashley Dube and Sarah Mackenzie.
• Falling dominoes, located in Gentile Hall in the hallway to the swimming pool, by Kirsta Willhide.
• An underwater fish scene, located in the Center for Innovative Learning in the first to second floor stairwell, by Courtney St. Peter and Sara Sullivan.
• A cat with a ball of yarn, located in the Campus Center outside of the Campus Store, by Tyler Prouix and Mariesa Sarmiento.
• “Starry Night,” located in the Campus Center at the top of the stairs, by Amanda Whitten.
• “You can’t escape your mind,” located in the third floor lounge of Merriman Hall, by Becky Bowers.
• Hands holding a structural image on string, located on the first floor in Emerson Hall, by Ollie Barrett.
• Tentacles being burned by light, located in the stairwell in Normal Hall, by Noah Easler.
• A figure sitting on a globe, located on the windows in the Art Room on the third floor of Pullen Hall, by Bree Hyde.
• A rain cloud being formed in one sink and raining into another sink, also located in the Art Room, by Hank Meyer.

The project itself is about design fundamentals and using shape quality to create a public piece of artwork. Students were permitted to use only blue painter’s tape and to create a piece that interacted with an “opening” on campus. This could have been a door, window, vent, or crack in the pavement. Students first scouted their locations and took photos, and then designed their installations from the resource photos they took. Proposed areas were approved by campus officials.

“People often marvel at public art. I do this project to empower students that they have all the capability to create unique and inspired work in the public arena yet still reinforce how they are learning design fundamentals,” Heather Sincavage, class instructor and UMPI Assistant Professor of Fine Art, said. “I appreciate the campus community who are willing to ‘be the canvas’ for this project.”

Sincavage also hopes that community members will take the opportunity to visit campus and view the student projects. The Tape Graffiti installations are only on display for a limited time—all of them will be taken down by March 20.

For more information about this project, please contact Sincavage at 207.768.9441 or email her at heather.sincavage@maine.edu.