HUB mural artist chosen to bring 2003 senior class gift to life

University Park, Pa. -- An artist famous for his panoramic, building-sized work has been chosen to bring to life the 2003 Penn State senior class gift, the Historical Mural Project.

Richard J. Haas, of New York, will use oil and acrylic paint on canvas to create the mural, which will depict the past 50 years of the University’s history. Highlighting important people, events and milestones, the mural will be installed inside the HUB-Robeson Center on the University Park campus, and is expected to be completed and open to the public by Feb. 22, 2005, Penn State’s 150th birthday.

Haas, a painter, printmaker and muralist, is nationally known for “architectural illusionism,” a tradition that gives the viewer the impression of three-dimensional realism on a two-dimensional surface. His work is included in the collections of many of the nation’s leading museums and his large interior and exterior murals appear in at least 25 states and in Germany and Australia.

Seniors voted last fall to commission the mural as their gift to the University. The amount raised by the senior class gift campaign will cover all costs including materials and installation.

The mural artist selection committee chose the most recent 50-year period of Penn State’s history to complement the land-grant frescoes in Old Main created by Henry Varnum Poor in 1940 and 1948-49 -- murals that depict the land-grant mission and evolution of the University from its founding in 1855 to the late 1940s. The HUB-Robeson Center was chosen for its central location on the University Park campus and because it serves as both a student union and a cultural center. The mural will be completed off-site and then installed on the walls in the lounge area south of Alumni Hall.

The artist selection committee included the senior class gift committee and representatives from the Penn State public art committee, the HUB-Robeson Center and its advisory board, the Office of Physical Plant and the senior class gift advisor.

“We had many talented artists submit portfolios to us and it was difficult to narrow it down,” said Colleen Hyland, chair of the 2003 senior class gift committee. “Richard Haas’ work truly stood out to every member of the committee. From large scale to the most detailed, he had all of the traits and skills we were looking for.”

Haas said that he likes to show the relevant history of the institution or town in creative ways. “So when I found out the idea of the Penn State piece -- the history of the school since 1950 -- I was confident that I could put together this particular project,” he said. “Penn State is a significant institution in Pennsylvania, and I’m very interested to find out more about it. This will be a discovery trip for me.”

Haas, a Wisconsin native, has been interested in art and architecture since high school. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and his M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota. He was a tenured art professor at Bennington College for 11 years and taught for two years at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Since 2000, he has been an instructor in New York’s School of the National Academy of Art.

Haas has created more than 120 interior and exterior works, ranging from a few hundred square feet to over 100,000 square feet. His recent commissions have included murals for the Nashville Public Library; the Miami Heritage Society in St. Joseph, Mich., the Robert C. Byrd U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building in Beckley, W.Va.; and the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Forth Worth.

He has received several prestigious awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1983 and a Westchester Arts Council Artist Award in 2003. The University of Wisconsin named him a Distinguished Alumnus in 1991.

Since 1962, Haas has had more than 60 solo exhibitions and has participated in more than 150 group exhibitions in the United States, Europe and Asia, including shows in such major U.S. museums as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Art Institute of Chicago.

He has authored two books: "Richard Haas: An Architecture of Illusion" (1981) and "Richard Haas: The City is My Canvas" (2001). He also has his own Web site at http://www.RichardHaas.com

The mural artist committee and the artist will consider suggestions from the University community for content for the mural. Contact Amber Krieg, assistant director of annual giving and the senior class gift advisor, at 814-863-2052 or adk5@psu.edu.

Seniors have been making class gifts to the University for more than a hundred years, beginning in 1890 when members of the class of 1861 gave the University a portrait of Penn State’s first president, Evan Pugh, which still hangs in the lobby of Old Main. More recent gifts include historic shepherd’s crook lamps to light campus walkways (class of 2001) and historic street clocks (class of 2002). To learn more about previous Penn State senior class gifts, visit http://www.seniorclassgift.psu.edu