Carina Sandoval '10 spent her summer creating a new look for the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good.
Sandoval set to work after A. LeRoy Gleason Professor of Art Mark Wethli challenged students in his public art class to submit designs for the Quinby House basement or the McKeen Center. Sandoval's proposal was selected, and Wethli informed her of the decision shortly after Spring Break last year.
"Professor Wethli announced to our whole class one day?almost as a side note?that my design was the one chosen for the Center," Sandoval said. "It was very exciting."
The first time Sandoval visited the center, Director of the McKeen Center, Susie Dorn, suggested hanging a large quilt on the main wall.
After doing some research, Sandoval decided that a quilt-like design would be well-suited to the mission of the center, which, according to Dorn, is to "[help] students discover the ways in which their talents, passions and academic pursuits can be used for the benefit of society through public engagement."
From her own research, Sandoval discovered that quilt-making is traditionally a communal activity in which women gather together, after designing their own individual quilt squares to sew together a larger product.
According to Dorn, finished quilts were then of service to the community.
In her original proposal, Sandoval introduced the idea of hanging tiles representing quilt squares in a grid-like pattern on three walls of the McKeen Center. Inspiration from the early 20th century Dutch painter Piet Mondrian and collaboration with Wethli and Dorn, however, led Sandoval to revise her design to include a number of different shaped and multi-colored fabric squares laid out in a wave-like pattern.
The finished piece includes squares of five different sizes while five different warmly-colored fabrics cover each one.
Sandoval began work on the project in the spring and worked through the summer until completion. The process she undertook included finding Homasote (a type of wallboard) for the square bases, selecting high-quality upholstered fabrics to cover them, and buying lumber pieces for foundation and mounting.
After Wethli showed her how to use a power saw, Sandoval cut the lumber into squares herself. This was one of the most exciting parts of the project, according to Sandoval. In addition, Sandoval cut and stretched the fabrics over the Homasote pieces; the work was almost entirely her own.
Although the process took more than six months to complete, Facilities was able to mount the tiles in a single afternoon. Sandoval named the finished product "Quilt Squares."
The McKeen Center also asked Sandoval to produce a logo for its department. In its final design, the logo features the rustic signature of Joseph McKeen above the words "Center for the Common Good" typed out in a modern font. This text appears above three squares, reminiscent of Sandoval's installation, meant to represent the three pillars of the center's mission: learning, service, and leading.
Sandoval is a visual arts major. She said that she hopes to pursue an additional art degree in graduate school and would like to work in an art-related profession.
"It's a learning experience in being flexible with your design and working with your client to find some common ground for both of you to be happy and satisfied with the result," Sandoval said. "This project really helped me develop as an artist and a designer."