Douglas Cooper: How the Mural was Made?

	How the Mural was Made? The University Center Mural 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 Back to The University Mural About Douglas Cooper Mural Facts It took 3 artists 1 year to complete: Douglas Cooper(B.Arch '70), Jonathan Kline(B.Arch '98), John Trivelli(B.Art '92) It was drawn in Cooper's studio in lower Greenfield (below Schenley Park). It is 200 feet-long; 11 feet-high extending top of baseboard to ceiling. There are 150 mural panels of varying sizes; most are 4' x 8' Core material is 3/4" thick medium density fiberboard (MDF) The upper panels, weigh 100 lb. each 4,500 square feet of acid- free barrier paper were used; it was glued on the front and back of the MDF panels 30 gallons of acrylic Liquitex Gel Medium were used to glue the paper to the MDF panels 3120 sticks of vine charcoal were used in drawing the image 25 gallons of acrylic Liquitex Gloss Medium and varnish form a plastic undersurface to protect the paper 10 gallons of Liquitex Soluvar picture varnish form the mural's outer surface. Mixture was 70% matte/ 30% gloss. The Soluvar varish and the acrylic were furnished as a gift to the project by Binney Smith. Mural was installed in the University Center May 27-June 5, 1996 by Ross Kronenbitter, Bill Nichols, assisted by Doug Cooper and John Trivelli . The 150 panels are attached to the walls by 800 custom-made 1"x1/8"x 6" aluminum clips. Clips are installed on the back of each panel and remain hidden from view 2,400 screws fasten the clips to the backs of the panels		Making the Mural.. We drew the mural off-site in my Greenfield studio. I employed two assistants with ties to Carnegie Mellon, Jonathan Kline (B.Arch. 1998), John Trivelli (B.Art 1992) and, on occasion, my daughter, Sarah helped out. We began in June 1995, and we installed the mural in the University Center in early June 1996. A key issue in composing the mural was anticipating the sight lines at the Rotunda. I laid out the images in a cartoon format at a scale of 1 inch to 1 foot. With these cartoons, I was able to locate important large elements opposite major directions of approach and compose those portions of the mural that would be seen from across the space through the Rotunda's openings. After hauling the panels up to my studio (which unfortunately is on the second floor of an old school house), we began by coating the panels with a normal commercial sealer in order to isolate the acidic material which is natural to wood. Then we glued acid free paper onto the panels with acrylic Liquitex Gel Medium. This would comprise our drawing surface. We mounted the paper both front and back in order to protect against the paper causing the panels to cup. To begin the actual drawing, we constructed a scaffold to hold the upper and lower echelons of panels in their proper positions. While we were always able to see the full height of the mural, owing to the size limitations of my studio, at any single point in time, we were only able to view 24 foot-wide portions. After ghosting in the image in pencil, we drew the mural using vine charcoal. Vine charcoal is a very malleable material that allowed us to work easily back and forth between eraser and charcoal. Accuracy about the Pittsburgh landscape came from much on-site sketches, photographs and historical books. More importantly, accuracy as to the "feel" of the Pittsburgh topography- its hilliness, its twisting vistas and its river orientation-came from my many years of drawing Pittsburgh. Finally when the drawing was completed and fixed, we coated each panel front and back with several layers of acrylic Liquitex Gloss Medium and varnish. After the acrylic had cured for at least a week, we brushed on an outer surface of Liquitex Soluvar picture varnish. This outer surface is reversible (it can be removed with mineral spirits) when it accumulates dirt and/or yellows. We installed the panels at the site with aluminum mending plates affixed to the back of each panel. On any given panel, these plates slide into the slot provided by the plates of the adjacent panel. In this way sliding the hardware of each panel in behind its adjacent panel, we were able to install the mural with no visible hardware. Ross Kronenbitter, Bill Nichols, John Trivelli and myself installed the mural in eight work days.