University
Center Mural
copyright © CMU/Douglas Cooper
A 200 foot-long mural of Pittsburgh in the Rotunda of the CMU University
Center
Douglas
Cooper, Artist
School of Architecture
Carnegie Mellon University
E-mail Douglas Cooper at dcooper+@andrew.cmu.edu
Jonathan Kline, Artist
Assistant
John Trivelli, Artist Assistant
Michael Dennis Associates, Architect
About
Douglas Coope
The Eastwall Mural
The Westwall Mural
The Northwall Mural
How was the mural made?
Frequently asked questions
Forbes Field, the Pirates old home
Other Murals by Douglas Cooper
Courthouse Mural, Philadelphia
Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh
John's 44th St., New York
John's 65th St., New York
Kleinmarkthalle, Frankfurt
UCSF
Mural, San Francisco
Baker Mural
Italy Mural (new)
Articles about the Murals
Eastwall: Forbes Field
Westwall: CMU Campus
Northwall: The Monongahela River
Photo: Bill Redic
About the mural...
When I saw the Rotunda in architect Michael Dennis' plans for the University Center, I immediately knew I wanted to do a mural there. Each of the peripheral walls of the Rotunda had its own compass orientation- east, west, and north. I thought I could use these to orient visitors to the campus and city as well as orient them in multiple time periods.
The Eastwall Mural 1945 to 1965...
The east wall shows Oakland in the foreground and looks across Junction Hollow to the campus as it appeared in its last years as Carnegie Tech when I was a student there. In the surrounding Oakland neighborhood, you can find Forbes Field, the former home of the Pirates, the Carnegie Museum before its 1970 addition, the Jones and Laughlin Steel Mill, the industry of the Monongahela River valley and the spectacular fire at the "Greeks", a favorite bar on Forbes Avenue.
The Westwall mural : the present and future campus...
Large in the foreground of the west wall as it looks across Junction Hollow to Oakland is the recently completed University Center as well as the soon to be realized Purnell Center for the Arts. Along the lower edge of the mural, I have incorporated personal anecdotes from the years 1965-70 when I was a student in architecture at Carnegie Mellon.
The Northwall mural : the Pittsburgh environment...
The north wall mural, from left to right, follows the Monongahela River from present-day downtown Pittsburgh to McKeesport. Ducking in and out of the entrance alcoves into the adjacent ballroom, it depicts the city in several earlier times as well. You can find Exposition Park, the original home of the Pirates and nearby, Andrew Carnegie, who lived on Ridge Avenue overlooking the Park. Further to the right you can see the Tech campus as it appeared from 1920-40. The buildings of Henry Hornbostel's original plan form the core of the campus and some of the other buildings much loved by alumni from those first decades are there also. Further up-river are the Homestead Mill during the 1892 strike (the Pinkerton Barge is shown burning), the Turtle Creek Valley and Kennywood Park. Flying low over the Homestead Hi-level Bridge is the mystery plane that crashed in the river during the late 1950s and has never been found.
All three walls are designed to give viewers the sense that they can "walk into" the space depicted in the mural. Whether by turning corners into alcoves, as is the case with the Northwall Mural, or by extending full height from baseboard to the ceiling, as occurs throughout, the intention is to present no visible edges. The sense of the art work is not that of a picture on a wall, but of an edgeless view into a space beyond.
Making the mural...
The University Center Mural began as an idea of Martin Prekop, Dean of the College of Fine Arts since 1993.* Work began in June 1995. The mural was drawn off-site in Cooper's Greenfield studio with the help of two assistants with ties to Carnegie Mellon, Jonathan Kline, Architecture 1998, John Trivelli, Art 1992, and, on occasion, Cooper's daughter, Sarah. The mural was installed in the University Center in early June 1996. The mural is drawn in vine charcoal on paper that has been mounted front and back with Liquitex acrylic Gel Medium over pre-sealed fiberboard panels. The work is protected by several layers of clear acrylic, Liquitex Gloss Medium, and several outer layers of a reversible oil-based varnish, Liquitex Soluvar varnish.*
There is a 20 minute-long video about the making of the mural available for purchase from the University Bookstore.
About the artist...
Since 1990, Douglas Cooper has focused on large panoramic murals of cities in the United States and abroad. In three of these projects-the Heinz Regional History Center, Pittsburgh, the Justice Center, Philadelphia, and the Kleinmarkthalle, Frankfurt, Germany-he has worked with elderly residents of each city and incorporated their stories and drawings, often in their own hands, into the works. The combination of story, history, and image is found also in Cooper's more geographic murals: the University Center and John's Pizzeria at 65th St. and John's Pizzeria at 44th St., New York.
Douglas Cooper graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 1970 with a Bachelor of Architecture. He is Professor of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon and was Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts from 1994-1996.
* The University Center Mural was a gift from the College of Fine Arts to the university
*Liquitex products used in the mural, gel medium, gloss medium and Soluvar varnish, were gifts for the project from Binney and Smith Inc.