Pictured is the mural unveiled Thursday in the new Quad Living Learning Room on the GSU campus. (Photo by Carlton Hamlin/University Communications)

T. Scott Boatwright/University Communications

Grambling State University has a new Quad Living Learning Community Room in the old Grambling Institute High School building, which now houses the reception department.

On Thursday afternoon, the room was decorated with an art mural designed by a team effort between GSU’s Visual and Performing Arts Department (VAPA), the Northeast Delta Human Services Agency (NEDHSA), and Black Creative Circle of North Louisiana. It was the place of the unveiling ceremony. (BCCNL).

NEDSHA uses a variety of art forms to serve people with mental health, addictive and developmental disabilities as one of integrated health care, evidence-based prevention, communication and treatment strategies. I have been working on doing it.

GSU’s new mural is the second commissioned public art completed by NEDHSA. Partnership with BCCNL.

DeRon L. Talley, NEDHSA’s director of public affairs, said Thursday that the mural will be installed on the campus of the Grambling High Building to help students overcome the traumatic experiences they have had in their lives on and off campus. said to be strategically placed in

“The murals we commission create much-needed local economic development, diversity and job creation, but also help vulnerable people in the area receive much-needed support. press release. “We believe that creative expression has medicine, and that art can bring people to life in ways that conventional therapies cannot. We want to help create an environment where people are healthy, local institutions thrive and spirits are renewed.”

BCCNL Project Manager Brandon Virgil designed the mural with the help of paintings by Rodrecas Davis, head of GSU’s VAPA Division.

The mural features NEDHSA’s purple, red, yellow and orange colors, the organization’s phoenix symbol and the butterfly often used to depict people whose lives are affected by mental illness. is drawn.

“We tried to design a positive image that would help give the (GSU) students a positive mindset when they came and saw the mural,” says Virgil.

In June, NEDHSA and BCCNL unveiled NEDHSA’s first wall art at Art Alley in downtown Monroe to increase awareness and reduce stigma related to mental health and addiction.

“It’s always nice to be invited to a party, but then you start thinking about the logistics, like how you’re going to get this thing done in a limited amount of time.” Davis said. “It was challenging to do the mural in the middle of summer in Louisiana, as we had other project deadlines coming up.”

The group is working on another mural on Providence Lake, and a third is planned for Farmerville.

“Summer school has started, so I haven’t been able to work on the Lake Providence mural, but hopefully I can work on the one in Farmerville,” Davis said. It’s not all just about the Black Creative Circle because we’re building a lot of bridges, and we’re trying to energize everyone in the process.

“It’s kind of like being in a classroom and doing your own personal thing, but it’s all about being able to go into the classroom and share what you’ve learned, the hands-on experience, and this is what art is about for the people involved. It can be a formative experience, and it can make a real difference in people’s lives, and it’s more than just an image on the wall, especially if it gets people to stop and think. It will be more than that.”

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