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 graffiti” installations, using painter’s tape and a whole lot of imagination.

The projects are being displayed throughout campus—in Folsom/Pullen Hall, Gentile Hall, Park Hall, Emerson Annex, Preble Hall, and the Campus Center. Using painter’s tape, students are creating artwork that includes everything from larger-than-life images of Star Wars characters Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker to a 12-foot-tall pointed compass.

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:

• Darth Vader and Anakin Skywalker, located on the ground floor of Folsom Hall at the infinity mirrors, by Paige Garrison and Dylan Michaud
• A large compass rose, located on the windows next to the south-facing entrance of Pullen/Folsom Hall (facing the Campus Center), by Madison Michaud
• A rendition of the solar system, located next to the C3 Store on the ground floor of Folsom Hall, by Andrew Mullane
• A fish and ocean scene, on the stairwell leading to the second floor opposite the Solar System tape graffiti installation , by Samantha Hans
• A city landscape, located on the wall and lockers next to Pullen Hall Room 111, by Oz Sailors
• An owl, located on floor 1A of Preble Hall between the elevator and the HR office, by Markus Marte
• A fire place complete with blue flames and vases of flowers, located in the entryway to Gentile Hall, by Brittany Mcphail and Naomi French
• The four different seasons, located in the Campus Center near the mail room, by Elissa McNeil and Renee Larson
• An ocean scene, located in the Campus Center in the hallway leading to the cafeteria, by Ron Lund
• A Halloween owl and a spider web, located on the west façade of Emerson Annex, by Matt Williams
• A riff on Tetris, in the Park Hall dormitory lounge, by Hailey Hamilton and Amanda Bubar

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.

“In a Basic Design class, I often get students who have never made a piece of art before in their lives. I do this project as a different way to learn fundamentals but also enforce that art does not have to be confined to a canvas or page,” Heather Sincavage, class instructor and UMPI Assistant Professor of Fine Art, said. “I appreciate the campus community who were willing to ‘be the canvas’ for this class project. I hope we can do it again in the future.”

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 Oct. 20.

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