“What works in print or digital design doesn’t always work on a wall. It requires a completely different way of thinking: How do you make a design work within a physical space and on such a large scale? Austin did that really well.”
Before this summer, Dordt University senior Austin Anderson’s painting experience consisted mostly of helping paint rooms in his parents’ home and creating theatre backdrops in high school.
Now, the graphic design major from Nowthen, Minnesota, can add muralist to his résumé.
As a student employee in Dordt’s Marketing and Communication Office, Anderson helped design, plan, and paint three 12-foot murals in the Rec Center, located in the Rozenboom Family Athletic Center. Working alongside Graphic Designer Brooklyn Rozeboom and Digital Content Specialist Emma McGaughey, Anderson took familiar elements of Dordt’s athletic visual identity and turned them into large-scale artwork for the facility.
“I had worked with paint before, but I had never really spearheaded a mural myself,” Anderson says. “It was fun; I enjoyed it.”
The project began while Anderson was exercising in the Rec Center and noticed that some of the graphics on its walls featured an outdated Dordt athletic logo.
“I remember looking at the wall and thinking, ‘That’s the old athletic logo. That needs to be updated,’” he says. “Then I kept noticing the old branding in other places throughout the Rec Center.”
Anderson approached McGaughey to ask whether he could take on the tall task of updating the graphics. He’d had his eye on updating one mural: the medicine ball wall directly across from the entrance to the Rec Center. But that vision soon included two additional murals: one on the indoor track and another in the community weight room.
To create the three murals, Anderson first photographed and measured the spaces, then used Adobe Illustrator to develop digital mock-ups showing how different designs would appear on each wall. The designs went through several rounds of review to ensure they complemented their surroundings and appropriately applied Dordt’s visual identity.
McGaughey says Anderson demonstrated an ability to think creatively within Dordt’s established brand.
“What works in print or digital design doesn’t always work on a wall,” she says. “It requires a completely different way of thinking: How do you make a design work within a physical space and on such a large scale? Austin did that really well.”
Once the designs were finalized, Anderson and the team prepared the walls and used a projector borrowed from the Dordt University Library to enlarge each design. Anderson carefully aligned the projected artwork with the brickwork, traced its outlines, and labeled the sections according to color.
“I meticulously lined up the design on the wall, using the lines of the brick as a grid so it wouldn’t look skewed,” Anderson says. “I labeled each section by color so that, once the projector was turned off, it essentially became paint-by-number.”
Painting required considerable time and precision. Anderson estimates that the lettering on one mural alone took eight hours to outline and cover with two coats of paint. Another mural required him to operate a lift to reach the upper portion of the wall.
McGaughey was particularly impressed by the ownership Anderson took throughout the project.
“He worked with Dordt’s facilities team, learned how to use the lift, and came in during evenings to trace and paint,” she says. “He really owned the project.”
Anderson is quick to say the murals were a collaborative campus effort.
“You would think a project like this would be simple, but it took a whole team,” Anderson says. “There were a lot of different departments that helped us, including facilities, athletics, theatre, and the Hulst Library.”
The completed murals highlight Dordt’s athletic branding in several prominent areas of the Rozenboom Family Athletic Center while strengthening the sense of identity experienced by students, athletes, and community members who use the facility.
“We’ve even had community members joke with us that the mural of the Defender in the weight room makes them want to push a little harder at the gym,” laughs McGaughey.
For Anderson, one of the most rewarding parts of the project was seeing designs move from a computer screen to walls several feet high.
“It felt completely different to see the design that large,” he says. “You can look at a mock-up quickly on a screen, but actually seeing how it feels in the space is very different.”
One mural will take direct hits from athletes, as it’s where they throw medicine balls against the wall. As a result, the mural will likely show signs of wear over time, but Anderson doesn’t mind.
“That’s actually kind of cool, I think,” he says. “It means it’s working and being used.”
About Dordt University
As an institution of higher education committed to the Reformed Christian perspective, Dordt University equips students, alumni, and the broader community to work effectively toward Christ-centered renewal in all aspects of contemporary life.
Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, Dordt offers undergraduate and graduate programs that help students live their faith in every area of life. Through rigorous learning, meaningful relationships, and whole-person formation, students gain the practical wisdom to serve God and neighbor through their work and in their communities. Dordt has been named among the nation's leading Christian universities by U.S. News & World Report, Niche, and other national publications.
The Porter’s Gate, a sacred ecumenical arts collective, will lead a worship event on Friday, September 18 at 7 p.m. in the BJ Haan Auditorium as part of At Work in the Garden: The Faith and Work Conference.
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