Solar House mural highlights campus commitment to sustainability

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solar house mural insideThe mural features colorful animals and plant life. STEVE WOOD / University Relations

The newest project from UAB’s Bloom Studio is brightening campus — this time from the Solar House and Sustainable Neighborhood at the corner of 11th Avenue South and 17th Street.

Designed and painted by Department of Art and Art History students Isadore “Izzy” Looney and Hannah Slatsky, as part of the spring Bloom Studio course taught by Assistant Professor of Drawing and Bookmaking Doug Baulos, the mural is on a shipping container that houses the neighborhood’s microgrid and features colorful animals and plant life.

“Finding the connection between what we do as a program and visual storytelling is important, and our art students and faculty do an amazing job of weaving environmental themes and social consciousness into their work.”

Slatsky says the Solar House was the greatest inspiration behind the new mural, which complements the colorful murals at the nearby UAB Gardens, completed in 2017 by arts faculty and students.

“We wanted the mural to be both educational and fun to look at for those seeing it from the street,” Slatsky said. “The solar cells inside the leaves are there as a point of reference for groups touring the Solar House.”

In addition to the Solar House and UAB Gardens murals, arts students and faculty, in conjunction with Bloom Studio, also created the mural at the pedestrian bridge that crosses University Boulevard at 13th Avenue South and a mural at the UAB Facilities electric vehicle charging location near the Facilites Administration Building.

Bambi Ingram, UAB Sustainability Coordinator, says the coordinating color schemes and green imagery consistent in Bloom Studio murals across campus demonstrate UAB’s commitment to sustainability.

“UAB Sustainability’s partnership with Doug Baulos and Bloom Studios has been an extraordinary one,” Ingram said. “Finding the connection between what we do as a program and visual storytelling is important, and our art students and faculty do an amazing job of weaving environmental themes and social consciousness into their work.”

Click through the slideshow to see the mural.

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  • The mural is painted on a shipping container that houses the neighborhood’s microgrid at the corner of 11th Avenue South and 17th Street, site of the Solar House and Sustainable Neighborhood. It features colorful animals and plant life. STEVE WOOD / University Relations
  • In addition to the Solar House and UAB Gardens murals, arts students and faculty, in conjunction with Bloom Studio, also created the mural at the pedestrian bridge that crosses University Boulevard at 13th Avenue South and a mural at the UAB Facilities electric vehicle charging location near the Facilites Administration Building. STEVE WOOD / University Relations
  • The Solar House mural was designed and painted by Department of Art and Art History students Isadore “Izzy” Looney (pictured) and Hannah Slatsky as part of the spring 2020 Bloom Studio course. STEVE WOOD / University Relations
  • The spring 2020 Bloom Studio course was taught by Assistant Professor of Drawing and Bookmaking Doug Baulos (pictured). STEVE WOOD / University Relations
  • Artist Hannah Slatsky says the Solar House itself was the greatest inspiration behind the mural, which complements the colorful murals at the nearby UAB Gardens, completed in 2017 by arts faculty and students. STEVE WOOD / University Relations
  • The shipping container on which the mural is painted houses the neighborhood’s microgrid. STEVE WOOD / University Relations
  • In addition to the Solar House and UAB Gardens murals, arts students and faculty, in conjunction with Bloom Studio, also created the mural at the pedestrian bridge that crosses University Boulevard at 13th Avenue South and a mural at the UAB Facilities electric vehicle charging location near the Facilites Administration Building. STEVE WOOD / University Relations

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