In my Capstone A class, I worked with a group to create a mural on our campus grounds.  My group consisted of Abby Carlin-Le, Sam Decker-Hoppen, and myself (Zoë Shulman).  In our mural, we represented the experience of being student art therapists using three major symbols: 1) Abby’s yucca plant, representing grounding and growth through messy tears and fiery adversity, 2) Sam’s cracked golden egg, representing inner metamorphosis and the initiation into our new identities as art therapists, and 3) my zen gem, representing the clarity, transparency, healthy boundaries, and stability that emerge through extreme pressure and personal refinement.  Additionally, Sam’s golden egg is a reference to the Japanese ceramic art of kintsugi, in which broken pieces can become more beautiful through mending.  On the horizon, the blood-red Sangre de Christo Mountains represent the initiate’s journey of being forged through fire.  Up in the night sky, the gold, silver, and green stars bursting from Sam’s golden egg are a creative healing force spreading throughout the universe.  The three yellow stars represent our group contributing to this creative healing force.  I used my six-pointed star sponge to stamp my yellow star and represent my Jewish identity as a Star of David.

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Zooming out, I have considered the power of murals and the inspiration and reflection we initiates wanted to offer the Southwestern College community through our symbolic metaphors.  Altogether, these symbols create the overarching metaphor of our initiation into becoming art therapists and all of the transformational challenges and joys that accompany this process.  For example, the messy tears falling like raindrops help the yucca to grow in its ability to ground itself through fiery adversity.  Another metaphor is the tension between the golden egg and zen gem expressing the need to balance openness and expansion with healthy boundaries and stability.  Such a balance is required to avoid burning out our bright stars and to maintain our altruistic roles as art therapists who can effect greater social change.  In a spatial sense, I think it is fitting that our mural is positioned next to Southwestern College's main campus entrance and exit.  As students enter and exit the campus, they can reflect on what their initiations mean to them as they gradually move out to become part of a larger creative healing force in the world. 
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Please click the image below to download my PDF file and read about my mural process.