Mount Vernon Nazarene University's Education and Art Departments collaborated to complete a mural highlighting the importance of education and the university's mission of educating the whole person. The mural is outside the Education Department's office suite on the second floor of the Hyson Campus Center.

"I’ve always wanted to do a mural that was a little more abstract because my own personal work is naturally more abstract. I thought that the opportunity to do a mural like that would be fun," said John Donnelly, the artist and a professor in MVNU's School of Arts and Humanities for 35 years, according to an MVNU news release. "But the thought of ‘How do we also link it to education?’ … My thought came about with creating abstract books — so you have the idea of the books being a symbol for learning."

According to Jessica Grubaugh, dean for the Jetter School of Professional Studies, the space outside the Education Department's offices included a long, plain white wall. She said the department wanted to redesign the space with an art or graphic design element to bring excitement for learning, represent the department's work, and make the area more welcoming.

Donnelly took eight days to complete the mural, working as long as 18 hours on some days, according to an MVNU news release. The professor said he wanted to evoke a feeling of energy, that this place was not typical or boring but had energy and a spirit of creativity that isn't just artistic but also involves creativity of mind and learning.

"I think this was an opportunity to showcase the talents of MVNU’s faculty and just generally that we are collaborative," said Grubaugh. "The Education Department, in particular, collaborates with a variety of academic departments on campus because we prepare teachers for work in many content areas. Education and learning are obviously one of the central components of our work at MVNU."