NSU and South Florida-based real estate company Ceiba Groupe partnered with students, alumni, and faculty in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences on a community mural project at a residential property located in downtown Davie. The collaboration features original artwork by an Art + Design student and alumni that is being documented by Communication majors using multimodal storytelling techniques.
“At NSU, we provide students with the edge to explore their careers and give them a foundation in which they are able to use these skills to pursue their goals,” said Shanti Bruce, Ph.D., chair of NSU’s Department of Communication, Media, and the Arts. “We are grateful that Ceiba Groupe is helping us provide these unique student experiences.”
Under the leadership of Associate Professor Kandy Lopez-Moreno, Art + Design major Annabel Brewster and alumni Kahkashan Ansary and Andres Mora are painting a mural at Ceiba Groupe’s Zona Village, a genre-defining, mixed-use, multi-family development, typifying a best-in-class residential living experience for residents of Davie, Florida. Lopez and the students presented several mural concepts to embody the Zona Village motto “live DIFFERENT,” and the Ceiba Groupe team ultimately selected a concept created by Ansary, who uses abstract expressionism to battle anxiety and depression with colors expressing freedom and hope while exploring the complexities of human emotions.
The painting is currently in process with plans to be completed by April 15. Communication students, led by Assistant Professor Whitney Lehmann, Ph.D., are documenting the project on social media, and Associate Professor Eric Mason, Ph.D., is capturing the painting process via film and time lapse techniques.
As part of the collaboration, Ceiba Groupe is gifting $5,000 to support a DCMA Student Scholarship Fund.
“We are proud to join this effort with NSU as we provide students with a real-world experience that relates to their studies,” said Jeremy Bedzow, managing principal of Ceiba Groupe. “It has been a pleasure working with these bright individuals and we look forward to the completion of the project.”
The Art + Design program at NSU provides students with a dynamic and comprehensive instructional program in the visual arts with concentrations in studio art or graphic design.
The Communication program at NSU prepares students to excel in industries including radio and television broadcasting, film, journalism, new media, public relations, education, law, and event promotions. With concentrations and minors in digital media production, journalism and strategic communication, the program teaches students how to create, design and edit effective messages for diverse audiences using a variety of media.
Under the leadership of the new Assistant Dean of Community Programs and Public Health, Mark Schweizer, DDS MPH, the College of Dental Medicine is joining forces with Care Resource. Senior student dentists will provide oral health care to underserved populations in Broward County through the collaboration.
