WIC Office mural is somewhat personal for Fairmont State student

Jul. 8—FAIRMONT — A building that has been described as difficult to find because of its dull-colored walls has been revived with splashes of color and Appalachian symbolism.

One side of the Marion County Women, Infants and Children program office at 532 Pennsylvania Ave., in Fairmont, is now home to one of the latest mural projects carried out by art department students at Fairmont State University.

"You really couldn't tell what the building was if you were traveling from one side," Monongalia County Health Department WIC Program Director Cami Haught said. "We wanted to let everybody know that WIC is there, and we thought a mural would be a cool way to advertise it."

The project began when Haught, whose office runs the Fairmont program office, contacted Fairmont State Art Professor Joel Dugan, who has gained a reputation for championing art in public places, especially murals. Dugan recently completed a mural in Mannington and has completed murals at Palatine Park and on Monroe Street in Fairmont.

"I'm excited how it came out," Dugan said. "I hope we're able to continue to develop projects like this using not only university students but also local high school students."

A gift to the Fairmont State University Foundation allowed the art department to pay the students for their work, which involved creating from scratch the concept for the mural and selecting a team to carry out the painting.

Clarksburg native Madi Knight, 22, a Fairmont State senior fine arts major with a concentration in painting and illustration, said it took her "about a month" to come up with the concept for the mural.

"For my advanced painting course, my professor, Joel Dugan, offered a leader position for a mural in Fairmont, and since I've really grown accustomed to Fairmont, I was like, 'Sure, yeah. I'll go for it.' So, I signed up for it and I thankfully got it and I got to choose my crew and I chose Bee Spevock and Holley Morrison," Knight said.

Knight said the staff at WIC were the "coolest people" to work with on the mural, which depicts a diverse family, a mother breastfeeding her child, a patchwork quilt of many colors and the WIC logo. WIC is a federally-funded national program that provides nutrition, breastfeeding support, health education and other services, free of charge, to pregnant women, mothers, infants and children up to the age of five.

For Knight, getting a chance to work on the WIC mural was somewhat personal having grown up in what she described as a "lower-income family."

"So I was always told about the benefits of community projects and free resources for lower income families," Knight said. "I actually have been sharing the articles on my Facebook and my mother commented, saying, 'Oh, your first storybooks were from the WIC,' so (I was) loosely involved with them growing up."

In designing the mural, Knight said she wanted to make sure a piece of Appalachian culture was included in the artwork. That's where the patchwork quilt comes in.

"I have a quilt my grandma gave to me. The patchwork quilt really symbolizes family for me," Knight said. "We want this mural to represent community and support to families who use WIC, and bring some color to the space.

The greater hope is that motorists who pass by the WIC office will now have a better understanding of what the program is and does.

"We want to bring more public art projects into Marion County to enrich our community and create a sense of place for residents," Dugan said "The mural is a great bold design, with lots of symbolism and color. It will really help create a sense of place for those who use WIC as a service."

Haught praised the students for their work and shares the same sentiment as Dugan.

"The students did a fantastic job of creating our WIC mural," Haught said. "They were able to capture the important aspects of the WIC program in the design. I believe this will help others to know we are located in the building and it brings beautiful color to the building as well."

As for Knight, who is minoring in creative writing, she hopes to continue helping those who are less fortunate by using her art and writing talent.

"I definitely love the idea of supporting lower-income families because I know the hardships I faced and if I can help kids get through those hardships more peacefully, I'm more than ready and wiling to do that," Knight said.

Reach Eric Cravey at 304-367-2523.