Texas A&M: Multicultural Services Unveils Redesigned Space
The Department of Multicultural Services in the Division of Student Affairs will showcase its renovated and new spaces in the Memorial Student Center (MSC) on April 20, which commemorates 10 years since the department’s return to the building in 2012 following the MSC renovation. In doing so, the department will write a new chapter of its physical location history at Texas A&M University, which officially began in 1989.
The renovation of the second level suite includes a facelift to meeting rooms, furniture, carpeting, and insulation, while the expanded lower level suite provides additional interactive multimedia student meeting rooms, common space, and offices. The new suite aims to bolster student experiences and provide opportunities to further student engagement, development, and connection say department officials.
The project builds on the department’s long-established mission of providing developmental experiences for underrepresented students and cultural competency development to foster inclusive learning environments across the campus community.
Some of the most recognizable elements of both the upper and lower level suites include updated artwork and decor within and around the spaces, including two murals painted by Atlanta-based artist Yehimi Cambrón. Additional works are by New Orleans-based award-winning visual artist Brandan ‘Bmike’ Odums, visual artist Vy Ngo of Austin, artist Martin Emmanuel Rangel of San Antonio, painter Sydney Carter of Powder Springs, Ga, and painter Stuart Sampson of Edmond, Okla.
Specifically, Cambrón and Odums are nationally renowned and recognized artists who, like other featured artists, use deep, rich colors and powerful imagery to tell the complexity of the stories of those they depict through their work.
The artwork within the spaces was vitally important because “functionality within the spaces was just as essential as the intentional and positive energy the spaces needed to generate for students,” said Tonya Driver, director of the department.
In fact, the development of the murals was a process in and of itself, department officials said. Cambrón is known for drawing inspiration directly from the subjects featured in her work. Following campus visits in 2021, she spent her time connecting with students across campus, taking in their diverse stories and backgrounds, and learning about the various reasons that brought each of them to Texas A&M.