Cover Story…12–13 | Homecoming - University of the District of ...

Campus news
40-foot tile mural
greets UDC visitors
Tens of thousands of ceramic tiles were
individually scored and then reassembled
as part of a 40-foot mural that
covers nearly 40 steps in the University
of the District of Columbia’s administration
building. It’s the work of art
professor Marcela Noriega del Valle
and her designer Suzanne Moe, who
worked for months on the design and
even incorporated student insight and
labor in installing the giant mural.
President Allen Sessoms was awestruck
at the overwhelming feeling of uplift
one gets upon entering the main building.
“It’s a symbolic statement of the
direction of our institution,” he said
at the unveiling. “The Firebird is rising,
and all of Washington, DC, will soon
be a part of this movement.”
The mural depicts two facing Firebirds
surrounded by swirls of color. It is
designed to inspire a feeling of upward
movement as students ascend the stairs
toward their goals in higher education.
Professor Marcela Noriega del Valle
and designer Suzanne Moe
Ceramic tile ‘carpets’
Administration Building entrance
On Aug. 25, President Allen Sessoms
unveiled the “Ceramic Tile Carpet”
art installation in front of the administration
building. Marcela Noriega
del Valle, a ceramics professor in the
Department of Mass Media, Visual
and Performing Arts, and designer
Suzanne Moe worked on the project,
which took 10 days from manufacture
to installation.
President Sessoms, faculty, staff and students
at the unveiling of the tile “carpet”
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