The almost life-sized figures painted on the wall of the conference room of the University of Georgia Center for Humanities and Arts were purposefully placed at eye level by artist Art Rosenbaum, breathing life into his mural “The World at Large,” a tribute to the engagement of UGA faculty, students and visitors from around the world.
Rosenbaum, the first Wheatley Professor in the Fine Arts at UGA, used faculty members and other subjects as models – including his own students – to develop, from real life, the figures that dominate the mural.
The mural itself sizzles with the energy of dance, music, drama, photography, film, art, poetry and scholarship. It also commemorates the efforts of the Center to increase intercultural understanding, and pays tribute to former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the first two recipients of the Delta Prize for Global Understanding, co-created by the Center for Humanities and Arts and the Center for International Trade and Security.
Rosenbaum began work on the mural in January 2001 with a freehand charcoal drawing on the wall that he later painted over, featuring about 50 different figures. The mural was unveiled to the public in September 2001.
Located in room 164 of the psychology building, “The World at Large” celebrates the programs of UGA’s Center for Humanities and Arts at the beginning of the 21st century.
