Nick CamachoThe professional architecture fraternity Alpha Rho Chi is in the early stages of updating a mural in the University Union Plaza in memory of one their faculty advisers who passed away in 1992.
The mural of an abstract Cal Poly seal, originally painted by the adviser himself, Vern Swanson, is located on the far side of the plaza near BackStage Pizza.
Swanson was an architecture and art professor at Cal Poly in the 1980s and an Alpha Rho Chi alumnus from the University of Southern California. After his death, he left his collection of artwork, consisting of thousands of pieces, to benefit the students of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.
“Redoing the mural is a way for us to commemorate him and renew his mark on the school,” said Vi Tran, architecture junior and Vern Chair of Alpha Rho Chi.
Swanson’s impact through his donations to the college were so extensive that each year Alpha Rho Chi elects a Vern Chair. The Vern Chair is responsible for taking care of the art collection and the Vern fund, a collection of money specifically for educational events for their college.
In the past, the fraternity has used the fund to finance lectures and the Fifth Year Chumash Show, a showcase for fifth-year architecture students to show their work.
The idea for the mural renovation has been in the works for about two years, but the fraternity could not begin until it was certain there would be no construction in the UU, as construction would have destroyed the mural area.
Now with the support of Associated Students Inc., Alpha Rho Chi is contacting active members and alumni to join forces and work on the mural during weekends in spring quarter.
Once the project officially commences, it is expected to take two to three months to complete.
The students decided to take on this project because the 25-year-old mural was showing significant signs of weathering and aging. They plan on keeping the same design Swanson originally created but updating it by sealing the wood, repainting with exterior paint and then sealing the top.
“This mural is important; people walk by it every day,” said Naomi Szto, an architecture junior and president of Alpha Rho Chi. “You may not know who the artist was, but people would notice if it was gone,”
The 18 to 20 active members of the fraternity hope that updating the mural will give more exposure to the life and work of Swanson to students outside of the architecture department.
The fund also allowed the fraternity to host a showing of Swanson’s artwork at Big Sky Caf‚ for the community last year.
Swanson’s collection of artwork is currently stored at a faculty house and is being catalogued by the fraternity. They are in the process of organizing the works digitally so it will be easier to view and find all of them.
Tran and Szto are currently finishing the rest of the paperwork necessary to begin the project this quarter and getting all the supplies and support ready to start up right away in the spring.
“Vern is such a big focus of our fraternity and mural is a symbol of Cal Poly, it would be a shame to see it not maintained,” Tran said.