Artistic banners wave motivation and inspiration
by Kelli Pippin

There’s something colorful popping up around campus. Four of them are on the gym, one graces Blocker Hall, and one adorns the campus chapel. They are vibrant, motivational and weather-resistant. And mostly they are art; pure and motivational art.

Blue shirts and orange pants are blooming.

The artist is 28-year-old Clayton Singleton. He graduated from VWC in 1994 and now teaches art at Bowling Elementary School in Norfolk. The Alumni Office wished to spruce the campus up and approached him with the idea of displaying his work. The popular opinion around VWC is that the banners are a success.

“I think they are beautiful,” sophomore Linda Ross said.

“Even on gloomy and dreary days, the campus now has more color and vibrancy than just the red of brick and the clearness of glass windows,” senior Jim Reese said.

With the titles Mind, Body and Spirit, Singleton hoped his artwork would decorate the buildings. Singleton stated that the paintings are not meant to tell a story, they are simply advertisements for the buildings and the people within them.

“I hope they give the campus more life, and I just knew they should have cool titles,” Singleton said.

To get his inspiration for the artwork, Singleton looked up the words “mind,” “body” and “spirit” in many different dictionaries. He then pulled in images from the varying definitions.

And there’s always the staple of a blue shirt and orange pants.

A close look should be given to each of his paintings, for there is a small piece of Singleton in each one. He says having his artwork displayed around campus is not egocentric for him.

“It’s just neat, okay, and it’s cool,” he said.

But masterfully crafted into each painting, which he calls a blend between a billboard and artwork, are pieces of him. For example, on the gymnasium a Lady Marlin basketball player has the number 70 on her jersey. This is the year that Singleton was born. And a field hockey player has the number three on her jersey. Three is how many times Singleton changed his major.

And if you look closely at the Blocker Hall mural, there is a fellow who has a birthmark on his hand. That is Singleton’s birthmark.

Wait, didn’t the Master of suspense believe in leaving pieces of himself in his work? On the Chapel you can view Singleton’s favorite self-image: his ear and the top of his head on the man wearing a blue shirt and orange pants.

So while you walk around this campus and take in the new artwork hanging around, think of Singleton’s intentions. He wanted to decorate, advertise and speak to everyone with the voices of many colors. Bur try looking a bit deeper to the oranges and blues and maybe you’ll discover a deeper intention.

“A self-portrait is not about what you look like, it’s about who you are,” Singleton said.

Maybe Singleton is telling the students to leave their mark wherever it is they may travel.