“New Haven From Above”: New WCAC Mural
Rose Robertson ’24 Editor-in-Chief Hanna Jennings ’24 Managing Editor
Over this past summer, Katherine Tombaugh ’24
has been busy beautifying the Walter Camp Athletic Cen-
ter.
Over this past summer, Katherine Tombaugh ’24 has been busy beautifying the Walter Camp Athletic Center. Tombaugh enlisted students, faculty, and alums alike in painting a mural of New Haven. Tombaugh says, “I chose to paint New Haven to show Hopkins’ relationship with New Haven. In the last few years, I’ve felt like Hopkins is stuck in a bubble. We can see the skyline of New Haven every day from campus, but we don’t actually interact with the city as much as we should. In the mural, Hopkins is on the very left of the map, minuscule in comparison to New Haven as a whole.”
“The collaboration was the most fulfilling element of the project. I was able to meet students and staff who I hadn’t talked to before and get to know them as an individual... Everyone who showed up got to help paint; it was great to watch everyone become confident [in their painting skills].”
“Throughout this project, I’ve realized how much blank space is on our campus... I hope that this mural will show Hopkins students how art can transform a space.”
“Once I got the OK to create the mural, I first made the sketch by tracing a map of New Haven from my computer onto a piece of watercolor paper and painted in all the blocks of the map. The paper was 18”x24”, so I had to find a wall on the Athletic center that had a similar 3:4 length-to-width ratio. I walked around the athletic center to find a wall that would fit the dimensions and also be easily seen. Finally, once the wall was chosen and when we could get scaffolding to the wall, I projected the sketch onto the wall and traced it using Sharpies... Ms. Labelle and Ms. Harper became my advisors throughout the project and I’m extremely thankful for their and Matt’s patience and enthusiasm.”
Back