Frieze finished by undergraduates fulfilling art professor's dream

Frieze finished by undergraduates fulfilling art professor's dream

By Amy C. Schweigert
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 20, 1996

Katherine K. Gardiner
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Andrew M. Polk, UA art department head, dedicates the "The Joseph Gross Gallery Mural" in front of the gallery Thursday. Many UA adminstration and students attended the event including Joseph Gross and the students that painted the mural.

A University of Arizona art professor's dream project was dedicated yesterday at the Joseph Gross Gallery, a part of the UA Fine Arts complex.
In the summer of 1995, Art Professor Alfred Quiroz and eight undergraduate students began painting 4-by-8-foot panels that were to form a 288-foot frieze around the Joseph Gross Gallery.
Quiroz said "The Joseph Gross Gallery Mural" project was funded by about $3,000 in grants and is the first public arts project on campus done entirely by undergraduates.
At yesterday's dedication in front of about 60 people, UA President Manuel Pacheco said the project satisfied two firsts: It was the first time a frieze was dedicated on campus and also the first time he dedicated a frieze.
Pacheco said the mural is a "striking new edition to campus," and a "magnificent achievement."
Quiroz put the challenge out to other art faculty yesterday to continue what he started with "The Joseph Gross Gallery Mural" project.
He said this "has to continue." The paint, after all, will fade, he said.
Joseph Gross himself said the mural is "a sensation."
The mural consists of 36 brightly painted panels. Students had free reign of designing their own panels.
Tracy Skinner, studio art senior, said the mural shows different cultures.
Skinner painted three of the panels, using Incan, Greek and modern Roman and ancient Siberian themes.
Gross said the mural is "a beacon for the art department" and will help people traveling along Speedway Boulevard to realize where the art department is.
"It's just great art," he said.