Downtown Moscow taken over by unsuspecting student artists
Argonaut
Walking along Main Street this weekend, one may wonder if children vandalized the windows of downtown businesses with depictions of their favorite storybook fairy tales — when actually, it was college students competing in a Homecoming competition.
In honor of Homecoming Weekend’s theme, “Once Upon a Homecoming,” college students painted Moscow’s business windows with the likes of children’s stories to decorate for Saturday’s Homecoming Parade.
“It’s been a lot of fun and a cool experience since none of us had done window painting before,” said a Theta Chi Fraternity member whose window design sports a cherry blossom tree and the spunky self-titled Disney movie character, “Mulan.”
Each participating team was assigned a certain character or story to portray in their mural design. Many of the paintings were of classic fables like “Little Red Riding Hood,” while some were of more recent Disney additions like “Frozen.” Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority members were excited to depict the icy tale of Queen Elsa into their painting.
Other Greek organizations were assigned to paint murals of tales such as “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Members from Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity said their design links the Administration Building’s clock tower to the Notre Dame Cathedral from the film.
Down on Main and Third Streets, Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority decorated Cafe Artista’s windows with the grace and beauty of the “Swan Princess.“
“Our theme was ‘Swan Princess,’ and we decided to incorporate the new Arboretum,” one member said. “We wanted to do this nice thing where she’s transformed in front of the bridge in the Arboretum, since it is one of the iconic parts of it.”
The UI Alumni Association provided the funding for panting supplies, with some supplemental funding from various Greek organizations’ residual funds.
Each group had high hopes of receiving the most points for their painting because the points go toward their goal of winning the Homecoming competition for their house.
However, a member of Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority said it wasn’t about the competition, but about the camaraderie and collaboration within the teams that made the event so fun.
“We wanted to paint this because we all wanted to get together as sisters and do something that we all would enjoy together,” she said. “This has really brought us together.”
Despite participants’ cold, paint covered hands, they put forth their time and energy into decorating windows to make the parade an appealing atmosphere for students, alumni and community members to enjoy.
Emily Mosset can be reached at [email protected]