by Ross Marvin '07
R.C. Atlee Hodgson '08 isn't an Art major. An Economics and Sociology major, he spends most of his time in the Social Sciences building.
He does, however, have a talent for painting and a predilection for the history of Union College.
He's putting both to good use at Orange House, turning the blank walls of the living room into his canvas.
“Orange House is the old Sigma Phi house,” says Hodgson, who is a brother at the fraternity, “so I am very interested in preserving the building's sense of history.”
When Hodgson saw the remodeled Minerva House last year, “the living room walls were bare and painted olive green. I thought it would be the perfect starting place for a mural that could liven up the space.”
Hodgson is a member of Golub House but was interested in bringing a sense of pride and community to campus.
“I also thought that having the mural in Orange might bring other students and faculty into the house to see it, other than the students that live there and see it every day,” he said.
In the spring, he pitched his idea to then-Interim President Jim Underwood and Dean of Students Stephen Leavitt at a student satisfaction committee meeting. His mural, he told them, would highlight Union's most famous alumni, professors, campus buildings and historical Schenectady.
After getting the go-ahead, Hodgson undertook the immense project by himself.
The Orange House mural features a different theme for each of the living room's four walls.
The north wall includes famed Union faculty members Eliphalet Nott, Charles Steinmetz, Ruth Anne Evans and Elias Peissner. Four famous alumni, Chester A. Arthur, William Seward, John Howard Payne and Gordon Gould, are painted on the south wall.
For Hodgson, these aren't just names and faces, but living reminders of Union's rich history.
“Each of these people has a fascinating story,” he says. “For instance, Peissner came here from Germany and led the College's Civil War battalion into battle. After only 12 years in America, he died for his new country at Fredericksburg.”
The eight portraits were based on lithographs and old photos. Hodgson made slides of these likenesses and projected the enlarged images onto the walls. He then outlined the projected images and completed the paintings freehand, using only one color, a deep brown that “warms up the room.”
The east wall, meanwhile, features a French design complete with arches and gold leaf inscriptions, highlighting the architectural elements of the fireplace and mantle. A new beveled edge mirror will reflect the mural on the west wall. That's where Hodgson recreated the Union campus and historic Schenectady from Joseph Rameé's 1813 plan for a new campus.
“Working with one color became difficult in terms of adding depth and shading in every window,” says Hodgson, “but I think I was able to represent the historic Ramee Plan in a graphic art style, which is unique.”
A native of Haverford, Pa., Hodgson learned painting and drawing at an early age from his mother, a high school art teacher. He began work on the Orange House mural in June and continued on and off through the summer.
Orange House isn't the only building on campus to benefit from a Hodgson makeover. He redecorated his own Golub House last summer with kitschy wall hangings and flea market finds, and he has been working on a skyscape for Beuth House. This summer, he also was commissioned by several Saratoga Springs families to paint murals for their homes, and he painted a town scene in the Night Sky Café on Union Street.
“I'm a hands-on person and a community member,” says Hodgson, a member of the Dutch Pipers and a Gatekeeper who already has plans to paint more murals in other Minervas.
“I love the breadth that Union's liberal arts curriculum affords someone like me who's a social science major but wants to participate in the arts because it's fun and important.”