A giant banner with an abstract painting of rock
climbers scaling a wall was unveiled at the Center City Sportsplex recently.
Jill Foster, a senior art major, was commissioned by the
Center City board to paint the 12- by 24-foot banner that hangs on the
west wall of the arena.
Foster is the third Union student to produce a
large-scale painting for Center City, according to Brian Merriam, a
member of the Center City Board. “We thought it was appropriate to
ask Union students to provide some of the artwork,” he said.
“The College provides (student) coaches for our soccer team
and our (Police Athletic League) after school programs.” The
College also has provided the use of its trolley for participants
in Sportsplex programs.
Foster, a native of Delmar, said the biggest challenge in
doing the piece was finding a place large enough to work on it.
She eventually rigged it from the ceiling of a large classroom,
using a ladder to reach the top. The piece took about two months
to create, she says. Foster's advisor was Prof. Walter Hatke, who
also mentored two other student-artists whose works hang in
the Center City Sportsplex.