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Two fine arts students left a lasting mark at Mississippi State after taking on an extra project in their final year of study.

Senior Chloe V. Ruggiero of Covington, Louisiana, and spring 2024 graduate Abbey R. Temple of Ridgeland recently completed a mural project for the university’s Department of Agricultural Science and Plant Protection. Located on the first floor of the Hill Agriculture Science Building, the 32-foot-long mural depicts select Mississippi crops—such as corn and rice—and the diseases that plague them. The pair was given a reference book of crops and met with faculty and others in the department to discuss what the mural should depict.

“We took their pictures and examples and turned them into something of our own stylistically,” Temple said.

“We sort of picked the prettiest ones,” Ruggiero added. “If you can believe it, plant sickness isn’t always beautiful.”

Faculty wanted the crops and diseases to be recognizable, so Ruggiero said they put extra effort into making that happen. After discussions and research, the next step in the mural process involved sketching and getting feedback and approvals.

“It’s hard to get a sketch that’s the size of our iPad to reflect properly how it will look on a large wall,” Ruggiero said. “In the beginning, we did a lot of one-to-one, sketch to wall. It ended up being a puzzle almost, with sections moving around until we found the best placement.”

Temple was more involved in the beginning stages—the sketching and planning—while Ruggiero took on more of the color and texture choices later in the project.

“I love the rice and the corn on the far left of the mural,” Ruggiero said. “I also like the color palette; I’m a very warm-toned person; yellow is my favorite color.”

Both students, who are oil painters by trade, said they enjoyed the challenge, as neither have ever painted such a large piece.

“It was also a fun medium switch-up,” Ruggiero said.

 MSU Department of Art Professor Soon Ee Ngoh, who has championed the work of numerous student murals on campus, guided the entire process.

“She was such a crusader for us during the whole process, and I truly could not have picked a better professor to lead and help us through that,” Ruggiero said.

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