Visualization Program’s Cara Baxter Brings Artistic Flair To Chancellor’s Suite At Kyle Field With Campus Mural
The new instructional assistant professor began her first semester in Aggieland with the painting project before the first home football game.
A new mural designed by Cara Baxter, M.F.A., was recently added to the Texas A&M chancellor’s suite in Kyle Field.
This is Baxter’s first semester as an instructional assistant professor in the Visualization program. She previously worked in the art department at Sam Houston State University. In August, she heard an artist was needed for the project. After three days of sketching the design, she began painting Aug. 24 and finished the mural on Aug. 28.
“This project manifested like a lightning strike,” Baxter recalled. “The goal was to complete the mural in time for the launch of the football season, where it would enhance the space and serve as a backdrop for photos with visitors, university officials and our most esteemed Reveille.”
Baxter said she had the opportunity to meet Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar while the project was underway.
“He was very supportive of the mural and we had a pleasant conversation,” she said. “And it turns out we used to live in the same neighborhood back in my hometown of Katy.”
Baxter said she volunteered for two reasons — to create something beautiful and because she is a “fairly quick painter.” Being able to work in a condensed timeline sparked her creative process, she said.
“I created a preparatory digital design and then got to work painting the wall itself,” Baxter said. “The mural depicts a stylized version of the campus skyline framed by the Century Tree, rendered with a color palette based entirely around our signature maroon.”
Baxter said she hopes the mural will help to promote the arts within the university.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to be part of the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts,” she said. “The college is home to world-class designers and artists, as well as a pool of students with immeasurable passion and dedication. I hope to create more murals and artworks for the university, and I look forward to fostering the creative endeavors of our students as well.”
