University of Minnesota Veterinary College

The Light of Cooperation 

Community mural installed at the Lewis Hospital for Companion Animals

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THE JOURNEY

We often  move in siloed spaces, and if you're like me, you'll notice this everywhere you go. This fact stands out to  me in spaces where people are intensely focused in a specific area of interest, whether it be their career, research, or specialized tasks that require a lot of focus and concentration. The things that set us apart from each other can make us strong in those areas, but when it comes time for interacting with one another sometimes it makes it difficult.

When I was first contacted about this project by the college's Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, what initially sparked my interest was our very first conversation. It struck a chord because there was a genuine desire for an art project that could pull people together, honor the native land of the area, and celebrate the college's strengths and aspirations.

Like many institutions, there was a desire for more of a sense of togetherness in the school veterinary community. I learned the college has an outreach program to provide care to animals on native reservations in the area. From the very beginning of our first conversation, this struck a chord in my heart because of all the murals I'd worked on up to this point that included representations of different cultural groups, I'd never really had a chance where I felt I could honor Indigenous culture in some way. My heart leapt for joy at the chance to try to do that. 

There are also programs to help people of color get into the veterinary program. I saw real potential here. Not just in the college admittedly, but geographically, too. After all, here was the city where George Floyd was murdered. People in the veterinary community, I was told, were still feeling the after effects of that situation, and with that the implications for the wider community it grew out of. But there was a desire to serve and help make it better.

How could we create a sense of community and show the college's outreach efforts? I'm not a part of the Native community. I didn't know how I was going to represent that aspect well. The interesting thing is, at the time when it was suggested that be a part in the mural, nobody questioned how I would do it except me. There also needed to be representation of other marginalized groups, including other people of color, LGBTQ+ and women. It surprised me to learn women actually make up 80% of the veterinary field today. The number has changed drastically in recent years, flipping from majority male in a short time.

After completing two other mural projects for other veterinary communities, I felt each one needed to be unique. What could make this unique, yet speak to the veterinary community here? I was drawing a blank. And there it was, right in front of me, a blank canvas. As I stood there and stared at the wall, wondering how I would make something out of this - nothing, the journey started to unfold before my eyes.

Imagine a long basement corridor, sparse and cold, pipes hanging from the ceiling, bare white walls. It feels empty, not well traveled. It seemed like there could be a better place to put a mural.

At first glance the atmosphere itself seems cold and - blank. Like the empty stare of someone looking at me and I don't quite know what they're seeing. Is it me or is it just a dark, unfeeling expression? That's how this felt - unfeeling. What was behind that? I sensed potential in the situation; that initial conversation had a familiar spark to it laced with the warmth of inspiration. It had only to be dug out. But how?

Others agreed this wall might not be the ideal location, but it is after all a teaching hospital, and this corridor happened to be where students, faculty and staff frequently passed through. And that's the community it was hoped would participate and be part of bringing the vision to life.

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But where do we start, when the vision seems far from the reality? How do we get to warm and engaging from seemingly cold and unfeeling? People are busy. But here, there was a chance through community visioning sessions, to offer people a respite, a reminder, of that which we truly care about, and even unearth some of the values held close to our hearts and put them on display.  But this is only the beginning, and that cold wall is still there, staring back at us. 

Looking at the wall now, I started to notice the texture of the concrete brick. It reminded me of - sponge. It started to take on a different feeling quality. Then, I searched in my mind for a word that described how it felt. More - open. And just like that - it seemed not so dense anymore. Curiously, it was changing right before my eyes. I was starting to get the sense that maybe there is something there; even if it's just a small glimpse of change - for now. Could it be that as I was seeing the wall, it was seeing itself through my eyes? It felt like it was waking up in its own way, to its own potential, and sharing images of that with me.

Now there's a wall, now there's a vision. Out there, solid and unyielding, coming into focus. In our mind's eye, we can imagine something better.

From my experience I knew the warm, familiar sensation of inspiration, moving through me, that would somehow, if I trusted it, find its way onto the paper, weaving natural images that would leap off the page into the viewers imagination, sparking recognition. You know that feeling when something speaks to you? Does it make you wonder where that understanding comes from?

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I remember myself standing there, looking at the wall. I peered into its shadows, contours, places where the light drew itself across the smooth surface. I imagined starting to see indentations that stand out, moving and appearing, then changing direction, becoming - an image. A hill. Wind. A snake, a turtle, a person. I asked myself - what are they holding in their hand? Trying to draw out more of  what I sensed to be - a story emerging here before my eyes. The scene started to play out in my mind's eye, changing as my eyes gently traced its contours. The wall lost its grip on being steadfast, it loosened and dropped its exterior. It started to sway and pulse, receptive; clay in the hands of my vision. I suddenly realized, the more I look at the wall, the less it appeared to be solid! Is this how it works? Could this symbolically represent what happens when we choose to be open-minded in situations, they open up to us? I wanted to find out!

 

In my vision, I saw people sitting under a hill-like shape, which later turned out to be a blanket in my imagination, a blanket representing native land, with grass and animals grazing around it. I saw a dome-like object on the floor of this seemingly sacred space, and I thought it looked like beehive. So that's what I drew. Later I came to find out there is a bee research center on the campus, something I didn't know before, and that was different than any other campus I'd been to.

Another strange thing that happened was when I was sketching, I felt like there needed to be animals around this sacred space, and one of the images appeared to be a moose. Funny that! I'd never drawn a moose before in any of my murals. I thought, that's gotta seem strange, but we'll see what people say.

Unveiling the design for CVM with (L-R): Dean Molgaard, Elizabeth Martinez-Podolsky

When it came time to present the design to the community, they loved it! The moose was right on the nose, they said, because when many people think of Minnesota they think of moose. (I did not know that!) Interestingly, there are no moose in Wisconsin, where I'm from, because of a virus deer carry that infect moose and they don't thrive here. 

As the images came more into focus during painting they drew more and more attention from the community - faculty, students and staff alike. One thing that was different for me about this project was the fact that I drew inspiration from casually talking to people, and asking them questions about what different things I had in mind meant to them. That feedback filled in some gaps that helped tie the story together and pull the different pieces together.

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What I learned from this was, you never know what might happen if you stay open-minded to a situation, how its potential may unfold. But whatever does unfold, it may not be what we expect, but it will be right for the situation. It will be exactly what is needed. And that's what I like about community art and offering people a chance to be part of it.

Community is like that, from my perspective. It is fluid, not static and unyielding. If we give things a chance, and open our minds and imagination, we open up new possibilities in the situation. A community is like a wall, it can be dense at first - until you get to know it. Depending on how we relate to it, it can share things with us we might not have seen otherwise. Like closely guarded treasures that find their way out into the open where they can be accepted and appreciated. I think that's the main thing, is being able to accept something where its at and appreciate it - it can be something more. But not before.

That fluidity, spontaneity I think helped  create more interaction among us as people passing in the hallway while I was sketching stopped to chat; outside of the normal visioning sessions we'd already hosted. This time, I was open to what people thought and wanted to draw them out. Everybody couldn't make it to the visioning sessions, not as many as we'd hoped this time. And yet, I experienced that familiar hum of enthusiasm, of quiet interest, buzzing as questions came about this and that, and eyes lighting up at the recognition of a certain animal they were closely connected to come alive in the painting.

That enthusiasm, that focused intention of caring and helping and healing that veterinarians express, has come to be something I deeply appreciate about that profession. Its a treasure I didn't expect, but felt lay hid there waiting to be discovered; one that I'm glad we found together on this journey.

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Mural project in University of Minnesota news

Crafting a Shared Vision - CVM partnering with mural artist Tia Richardson to create community artwork

Gallery: A Work of Heart - CVM faculty, staff, and students join together to paint a community mural

Telling Our Story - CVM unveils its community-created mural “The Light of Cooperation” celebrating the impact of veterinary medicine and the vibrant people at its heart

Mural location:
Lewis Hospital for Companion Animals
1365 Gortner Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55108