Our Mural

Throughout the Fall 2023 semester, professors Maja Godlewska and Erik Waterkotte led their Mixed-Media Painting and Print Media students through the process of creating a public artwork that expressed the connectivity and individuality of Interdisciplinary Studies. INTERCOALESCENSE is the product of that experiment.

After the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies commissioned the mural, Professor Beth Whitaker visited Waterkotte and Godlewska’s class to discuss the work of the office and the meaning of interdisciplinary collaboration. They talked about IDST’s goal to promote creative collisions through “radical interdisciplinarity,” which often involves both tension and negotiation. This process included students and faculty across multiple disciplines such as Art, Art History, Capitalism Studies, Film Studies, and Interdisciplinary Studies.

The students’ inspiration began with the historical work of Henri Matisse. Specifically, the class looked to his later years’ work, which exclusively relied on colored paper cut-outs as the artist became less and less mobile. Matisse found this useful, as he could scale his work back to a more modest output then have his assistants resize his artwork for murals.

For the purposes of this mural, the cut-out colored paper process provided a unique visual language that the class could share and collaborate on. The cut-outs also provided distinct forms, layers, and shadows that translate well when photographed and enlarged.

Creating the title for the mural presented its own challenges, which the professors and students decided to tackle the same way they had tackled the mural: through collaboration. Word association became the name of the game. Through a productive brainstorm, the artists landed on INTERCOALESCENCE. Their process looked something like this:

Conceptualizing outside of the box/crossing borders / Intersectionality…forms starting from one place, ending another / Inverted perceptions/complimentary colors layered and crossing / Mapping/cartography the imagination / Topography of Interdisciplinarity / What can viewers find in the work…what can viewers create amongst the forms/shapes / Unity/ambiguity / Indexical weaving, intertwining / Micro and Macro / Pieces coalescing to become something more/bigger / Inter-Coalescence, Intercoalescence / With Love, the Beginning and End / Nothing stands alone…everything is affecting everything / Indexical Aquarium / Communal/Commune Ecosystem / Discombobulated Habitat / Convergent Evolution / “Inter” Interconnection, Interweaving, Intersticial, Inter-netting, Internal Biome / Lucious / Congregation / Inter-reef / Inter-weaver / Reef in Time / Wrinkle in Time / Indecisive / Petri Dish / Inter-vanity / Internucleonic / Exploding Enigma / Amongus / A Suspicious Venting…sussy / Intramarginal / Do Not Go Gentle into that Goodnight

Through the interdisciplinary process, these artists created something entirely unique—the perfect visual accompaniment to the Interdisciplinary Studies program. Check out their progress below.

Contributing Students

  • Callie Barber
  • Rachel Barger
  • Nicole Beltrami
  • Hirmani Brown
  • Heather Chan
  • Hypnos Chhabra
  • Ellen Doss
  • Lysa Fakir
  • Caden Glende
  • Hannah Grubb
  • Kelly McNeely
  • Samaria Pickenpack
  • Skyler Vink
  • Caroline Wingerd