What is this space?
This is the Open Canvas, a mural space created by House of the Arts and Tunnel Visionaries. Here, we aim to give you a canvas to have creative freedom and share your thoughts and art as students. As time passes and more art accumulates, this mural will develop an identity and voice that represents the diverse backgrounds, thoughts, and creative voices of every individual on campus.
The Open Canvas is dedicated to fostering the art and expression of every RIT student and developing a diverse artistic voice. This space is maintained by the efforts of Tunnel Visionaries, House of the Arts, and the Center for Residence Life to support this goal.
How can I add to this space?
Simply grab some water-based acrylic paint and start working, no forms needed! Permanent markers are also permitted, but due to the tendency of alcohol-based ink to dissolve paints, they are highly discouraged. Please look below for the guidelines and rules! Note that this space is cyclic, and art will be added over other art as it evolves. Every so often it will be painted white to start with a clean slate, but only once it gets covered in art and develops its own voice!
- Hate speech of any kind is prohibited
- Vulgar or explicit imagery of any kind is prohibited
- Offensive profanity is prohibited
- Advertisement or promotion of student or commercial organizations is prohibited
- Political or social commentary is limited to that which fosters inclusivity and diversity of people and their art
Speech found in violation of these guidelines or found to be inappropriate by the Center for Residence Life will be removed.
This space is cyclic! Your art will be covered in time as new art is added.
Please use only water-based paints and acrylics on this space. Do not use:
- Aerosols
- Volatile organic compounds (mineral spirits, alcohol/permanent markers, etc)
- Etching or scratching tools
- Adhesives
- Non-water-based paints or inks
Frequently Asked Questions
House of the Arts is a special interest house on campus, and is the combined art-focused group from the previous Art House and Photo House. It aims to facilitate art of all forms, and develop a safe, connected group of artistically driven people.
Tunnel Visionaries is a club focused on appreciating the many murals found in the tunnel systems of RIT and advocating for their preservation, as well as the many murals found around the Rochester region. Combining its art and history focus, it also maintains the TunnelVision website, a digital catalog of all the murals under the Residence Hall tunnels at RIT.
This project is currently in a pilot phase. As time goes on, if this is successful we aim to improve and expand this mural, and integrate it as a permanent hallmark of the RIT tunnels. In this endeavor, it is important for all users to respect this space, so that it can continue to be the most interesting landmark of the tunnels!
The current location of the Open Canvas is in the tunnels underneath Baker Hall, just passed curved tunnel to Grace Watson Hall (coming from Kate Gleason Hall).
