Sowela club creates mural

Sowela Technical Community College’s Graphic Art Club recently completed a 264- foot mural at Petro Bowl. The project took five months to complete and earned the club $2,000 towards fund raising initiatives.

The mural, which depicts scenes from around Southwest Louisiana, spans the entire length of the bowling lanes and was created by 30 student volunteers who worked after classes, weekend and holidays.

“It teaches you to come together as a cohesive group and make something out of nothing,” Ayasha Gillespie, December graduate and former club president, said. “If you want to go bowling, you see that. And once you know that Sowela produced that, you know really good things can come from something small.”

Petro Bowl was in the market to freshen up its back wall when Phillip Mitchell Jr., club vice-president and Petro Bowl employee suggested the partnership with Sowela. “It really brought out a leadership role in myself as far as applying it to my career aspirations,” he said.

The club members worked together from concepting, sketching, outlining, painting and finally hanging the 66 individual panels along the alley’s back wall. Descrbing the experience as “high stakes” and “stressful” at times, Gillespie and Mitchell agreed it was well worth it to provide the alley with an image the owners “fell in love with.”

Darrell Buck, graphic arts instructor, commended the students who worked on the project. “This wasn’t a class project they had to do this on their free times. They had to develop a good work ethic to get it done.”

Taking part in student organizations, Buck said, goes far in helping student prepare for life after college. “Ultimately, they do better because they’re getting more experience. The ones that go above, the ones that aren’t afraid of work we know we can recommend for internships and jobs.”

Sowela will offer a new artistic course of study in the fall, the associates of applied science in digital communications. The program will feature two concentrations for students to choose from: graphic design and media production. For more information visit, www.sowela.edu.

””

For Sowela Technical Community College: The Sowela Graphic Art Club students recently completed a 264-foot mural at Petro Bowl. The artwork spans the entire length of the bowling lanes, incorporating a Southwest Louisiana theme complete with crawfish, Lake Charles skyline and wildlife. Club members volunteered their time to paint the mural, a project that took from September 2018 to February 2019 to design, outline and paint. The mural was part of a fundraiser for the club, which raised $2,000. Pictured in front of the mural accepting the donation from Petro Bowl are: front row, from left: Petro Bowl General Manager Debbie Stroderd, Sowela Chancellor Dr. Neil Aspinwall, Graphic Art Club Advisor and Instructor Darrell Buck; middle row, from left: Phillip Mitchell, Instructor Thunder John, Shawn Aucoin, Instructor Erik Jessen; and back row, from left: Gabriell Guillory, Quincy Mudd, Kiara Hartman, Kevin Wise, Dennis Evans, Jasmine Vital and Cevannah Duncan.

Special to the American Press

SportsPlus

Local News

Firefighter training to be offered to high school junior, seniors

Local News

LCPD complaints delay vote to reappoint police chief

Local News

Kelly Campbell curates a classroom for students where they feel welcomed

McNeese Sports

Cowgirls suffer double loss

life

SW La. nightlife calendar: There’s always something to do

Local News

Trump announces commission on religious liberty, White House Faith Office

McNeese Sports

Traveling man

Local News

Jennings High Key Club using grant to increase access to books

Local News

Program aimed at helping city workers buy homes

Local News

Several area schools named after Black education pioneers, local legends

Crime

LC man accused of going on crime spree

McNeese Sports

Back to their roots

Jim Beam

Jim Beam column:Second Harvest news unsettling

Local News

Meet the candidates: Five throw hat in ring for mayor’s race

McNeese Sports

SLC games set for McNeese

McNeese Sports

Cowgirls look for four-peat

Local News

UPDATE: Drug charges against veterinarian cleared of rape dropped

Local News

Cassidy, Senate committee advances Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nomination to be health secretary

Business

Waffle House adds surcharge to eggs as massive bird flu outbreak leads to soaring prices

Local News

Federal judge blocks enforcement of La. police ‘buffer-zone’ law

Local News

Louisiana Armed Forces Alliance opens new offices

Local News

NY shields abortion pill prescribers after doctor indicted in La.

McNeese Sports

Cowboys win by a tick

Business

Wall Street swerves lower after Trump announces tariffs and then puts some on hold