A dynamic large-scale abstract mural created by UC Santa Barbara art students and commissioned by QAD for its new global corporate headquarters in Summerland will be unveiled on Thursday evening, April 21.
Called "Collide-A-Scope," the 70 x 30 foot acrylic painting (a working drawing appears above) has been described as a "riot of energy and Southern California vibrancy" and "a 21st Century Jackson Pollack painting."
It is located in QAD's impressive stone, glass and copper global headquarters overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The mural will become part of QAD's permanent art collection, "Innovations on Light and Color," which showcases contemporary artwork from around the world.
QAD is a Santa Barbara-based software company founded in 1979 by Pamela Meyer Lopker and her husband, Karl Lopker, both UCSB graduates.
The company provides software to global manufacturers and has long been considered an innovator in the industry.
"We are an engineering-focused company, so it's important that we support new forms of innovation," said Pamela Lopker, chairman of the board and president of QAD.
"Whether you're in the arts or sciences, you need creative thinkers who can solve problems in a linear as well as a conceptual way.
That's what we are celebrating with ‘Collide-A-Scope.'"
QAD contacted UCSB's Art Department last fall to commission the large-scale mural.
Under the direction of Alisa Ochoa, a lecturer in the department with experience in mural production, eight UCSB undergraduate art majors met with QAD and developed a proposal, taking into consideration the site, architecture, and people who work there. Ultimately, they combined their series of drawings to create the remarkable mural.
"In this process the students learned a lot about themselves as well as the application of art as a social activity that doesn't end with the artist in a studio," said Ochoa.
"They learned how artists propose a project for a grant or public art opportunity, to work together with many different ideas, to develop project goals, and to deliver creative solutions in a timely manner. Public art is a good way for everyone to participate in the making of the meanings we assign to cultural production."
The UCSB artists are Nathan Carden, Jennifer Chen, Kirk Damer, Asad Faulwell, Loren Lacap, Dalyn Matsuguma, Jennifer Phannguyen, and Nicholas Wali.
The Lopker Family Foundation has made a philanthropic contribution to UCSB for scholarships and programmatic support in the Art Department.
Kip Fulbeck, department chair, said, "We appreciate the generous support of the Lopker Family Foundation.
Having the opportunity to work in such a professional arena is tremendously valuable for our students.
We are grateful to QAD for providing them with this challenge, and very proud of our new public art presence in Santa Barbara."
The UCSB Art Department has over 250 majors and 23 faculty members, whose expertise ranges from painting and sculpture to digital media and public art.
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