Flamingos in the Stairwell

 Who ever thought that, while walking through a stairwell of the UMass  W.E.B. Du Bois Library, one would see a mural of flamingos in a pond.  The mural we came across depicted four bright pink flamingos wandering in what appeared to be the pond in the center of the UMass campus.  Surrounding them were tropical plants of green and yellow, and in the background a structure which resembled the Fine Arts Center of the campus stood tall and evident.   The entire scene was the foreground of a vibrantly lit green sky under a gleaming yellow sun.

We did find some interesting history on some of the artists whose work you can find scattered through the library stairwells.  Various floors of the library are showings for UMass art students' works of the 1970's to the late 1980's.   This flamingo mural exhibits just one of the many of the stairwell gallery.

Jared Gaudette, a student at the university, was interviewed in the hallway as he stood looking at the mural.  He had some interesting remarks to say about the theme, artistic ideas, and possible meaning of the piece despite having limited knowledge of the flamingo mural.

The flamingo mural did not just get thoughtful comments from students but also from the public eye.  A recent blog post on the mural demonstrated how the piece is an influential image in the library that gathers various viewers in the stairwells.  His reaction to the artistic piece brings viewers to the understanding that this piece is special apart from the others.

Overall, the mural project from decades ago has been considered to be a noticeably positive addition to the library stairwells, blessing students with beautiful murals like the flamingo mural, as they climb from floor to floor.