Robbin Bates, an MFA candidate in UNM's Painting and Drawing Program, is working this summer in a skylighted basement space in the University of New Mexico's Anderson School of Management. Robbin's design was chosen from a field of student submissions for a new mural in Parish Memorial Library. The 20"x11" mural will be revealed in a ceremony this September.
The call from UNM Libraries asked for a mural that not only represented New Mexico but would also brighten up a dimly lit area of the Library. "The work I do is desert-based," says Robbin, and it's also "very colorful and bright -- even though the subject matter can be a little gory, it's still bright and happy in that sense -- so I thought it would fit really well."