Indiana Tech Permanent Art Installation in the President's Office with Sculptor Greg Mendez

A few months ago Greg Mendez, who I interned with back in 2018, and I were contacted by Indiana Tech to do a collaborative art piece that was to be displayed in the office of the President of the university, Karl Einolf.

Greg was originally commissioned to create one of his signature steel sculptures to be displayed along with a painting, and he was allowed to chose the painter he wanted to work with. During my internship with Greg, he and I had worked together on several other projects, including Fenced Out, a bike rack where he built the steel frame, and I painted it to appear like a wooden fence. Since we had worked together and he knew my work ethic and style, he chose me as the artist to accompany him.

I was very excited to begin this piece. I’ve done large murals, but I had never done a painting quite this large before. The painting hadn’t started out this big in the beginning; it was originally set to be 2’x3’. But after a few approved concept sketches showing the open doorways design, the university decided that we should make the piece itself the size of a doorway.

It was a huge canvas. The painting just barely squeezed into my studio, taking up an entire wall. It presented a unique challenge, working life-size but still getting incredibly detailed. I couldn’t wait to begin.

I started adding in the base colors, brushing in a little metallic copper paint here and there to give it texture.

I was able to start in on details (my favorite thing) as each layer got built up.

I took inspiration from many different types of architecture in creating this piece. The entrance hall for the Empire State Building inspired the yellow doorway, and I brushed in some metallic gold to give it an extra shine.

Another inspiration came from Frank Lloyd Wright. I was invited to join Greg Mendez and several other sculptors on a trip to the Sioux Falls Sculpture Walk this summer, and on the trip we were able to stay in the last Frank Lloyd Wright hotel still open, The Park Inn Hotel in Mason City, IA. It was a beautiful hotel, full of gorgeous architecture. I particularly loved the stain-glass windows, so I decided to paint my own version into this piece. They are not exactly Wright’s style, as far as I know he stuck to vertical rather than horizontal patterns, but it certainly carries his influence.

There was one thing I really wanted to include in this piece: Indiana Tech’s Logo. I love their logo design, it’s fierce and clean. I free handed these, and was real pleased they came out so similar to each other. The golden paint has a coppery tint to match the flecks brushed into the green.

When the piece was finished, it was ready for transport to Indiana Tech. While I had been working on the painting, Greg had been creating his sculpture. We’d lined up the measurements just right so that we could work in separate spaces and still have our pieces fit together.

We drove the pieces up to Indiana Tech, and with a little navigational help from my sister Grace (who goes to Indiana Tech as an HR student) we found the correct building, the Uytengsu Center, where President Karl Einolf has his office.

Using wood that matched the doorframes of the other offices in the building, Indiana Tech had created a very unique frame for my piece.

The frame was right on the dimensions needed. It was quite a squeeze to get the painting into place, but once we got it in, we knew it was there to stay.

Greg’s piece was easier to install luckily, the only thing to mess with was the position. Should it face triumphantly away from the doors, as if it has finished the journey, or should it be looking into the painting, ready to take on the challenge?

In the end we decided to ask Shayla, the girl who runs the front desk in the office, and who’s opinion is the most important because she has to look at it everyday. She decided it would work best looking into the painting. And she was right.

This piece was a challenge for both of us. While I got to do details on such a huge painting, Greg (who usually works rather large) had to do details on a small scale. Welding such tiny pieces of metal is very difficult, but Greg made this piece look effortless.

My sister Grace took these photos of myself and Greg by our piece. This was an honor to create an artwork that is permanently displayed at a school that my sister loves going to. Thank you Indiana Tech and President Einolf. Keep Unlocking Opportunities, Indiana Tech!