Wilkes taps artist to help beautify campus, community with murals
Paige Edwards has been finding herself up against the wall at work lately, but she loves it — because she gets to paint it.
Edwards, a Sweet Valley native who now resides in Kingston, was hired as a graphic design specialist at Wilkes University a couple months after she graduated from the school’s Digital Design and Media Arts program in May 2024.
“I’m kind of the muralist, too,” she said.
Edwards designed and, with help from her manager, Ashleigh Crispell, completed painting a mural on the side of south side of the university’s Career Development and Internships building at 236 S. River St., formerly the Temple Israel School, last week.
“Basically, we wanted to have a representation of Pennsylvania and the local area, because it’s very rich with floral and biodiversity. All of the colors are part of our Wilkes branding, the color palette that we use. And since Wilkes-Barre’s logo is the beehive, we added the bees in there, so it kind of belongs to Wilkes-Barre too,” Edwards said.
The outdoor artwork is the second mural project she completed since she was hired.
“The first one was by the Cohen Science Center. It’s kind of inside of campus, so you can’t really see it from the street. It says, ‘At Wilkes, I will, which is our university slogan. So, that one’s a big photo opportunity for students who want to come here or students that are already at Wilkes,” Edwards said.
In the first mural, she implemented the mountain laurel, which is Pennsylvania’s state flower, and the Susquehanna River.
“It has some subtle nods of things in Wilkes-Barre and Pennsylvania,” Edwards said.
University President Greg Cant is a big fan of the artwork and its appearance in the community.
“Wilkes University is proud to make the investment in this mural that beautifies our campus and the surrounding neighborhood. Projects like this highlight the mutually beneficial relationship between Wilkes and the community,” Cant said in an email.
“We are fortunate to have recent alumnae Paige Edwards on staff. She’s a gifted designer and muralist. With her talent in house, we have the potential for additional murals and look forward to exploring other campus locations that could be enhanced in the future,” Cant said.
Edwards said she’s glad to hear her efforts are resulting in positive feedback.
“It’s kind of cool to see people talking about it. My friend and co-worker, Bella (Barberio), runs the (university’s) social media. And so, she kind of sees how people react, even just online, and everything’s been really positive, which is really cool. So, it’s kind of nice to see the feedback, and then people posting pictures with it.”
Edwards first started working on murals when she was a student and a part of the Street Art Society of NEPA, a nonprofit responsible for numerous murals in the area over the past several years, with a concentration in towns on the West Side of the Susquehanna River. Now, she relishes the opportunity to create them professionally.
“Honestly, it’s one of my dreams come true, because I didn’t think I would be working on murals by myself, which is kind of cool because I just got into it only maybe a few years ago when I was a sophomore. So, yeah, honestly, it’s pretty cool to be able to see my artwork on such a big scale,” Edwards said.
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