Cori Chapman - 2025 Intern

Before I got to campus for this research mentorship, I had a vague idea of what this summer would be like. I had a pretty strict idea of what the process of painting the mural could be, but as soon as I arrived, I was completely wrong. This project had many faces, with many different designs on various walls. One of the most important things I learned during this experience was how to improvise under short notice. The final product of this mentorship experience was very different than the original plan was. But, with the help of the community and people that support the mission of maintaining public art in Geneva, we were able to make something just as impactful. 

Although I came onto the mural team as an interested art student that wanted to be a part of the public art scene in Geneva, I left feeling like I was truly a member of the community. I am originally from Los Angeles, so I do not really get the “small town where everybody knows everybody” experience often. But during the process of painting and planning the mural, I was able to meet some really cool people. The biggest part of the summer, in tandem with the mural, was being able to work with local teenagers in the area throughout the whole process. A good number of them were with us in the beginning stages, before we even knew what wall we were painting on and what exactly we were painting. They all came from different backgrounds and walks of life, and it was so wonderful to see such a diverse group of kids all working with the goal of amplifying the public art movement. They stuck through all the tediousness of scrapping and priming and stayed all the way to the end. I know if I was their age, and I was able to paint a mural and have my name on that wall, I would never shut up about it.

Even though there were times where I didn’t think things would work out, that all our hard work would go in vain, we stuck to it and pushed through adversity. In the end, we came out with an amazing mural and a crazy story to tell.