Those in Matthews Hall may have noticed some new decoration on the third floor.

“Technology and the Globe” went on display at the beginning of the month. The five feet by 20 feet drawing was done as a collaborative art project by members of Art League.

“The school of business has considerable wall space with nothing on it,” said Dr. Brad Kleindl, dean of the school of business. “And I think it’s a good idea for our students to start to get a feel for a broader cultural background, and art is one way to do that.”

So, Kleindl approached Nick Kyle, head of the art department, about putting some art in Matthews Hall. Then Josie Mai, assistant professor of art, suggested the group work.

“Instead of putting up an individual show, individual pieces on the wall, I proposed a group project to Art League,” Mai said.

She said at first the group members were kind of confused because they were used to doing their own things in their own studios.

“So I kind of had to coach them through it,” Mai said.

The group began by brainstorming ideas for what would be appropriate for the school of business.

“We started with listing out some motifs, some ideas, some images, because it’s the theme of Technology and the Globe,” Mai said. “So there are some historical references, and there are some real current references.”

Mai said at any one time there were seven or eight people working on the piece, and about 20 people total, including two faculty members.

“We all kind of just took over an area of the paper,” Mai said.” We worked all the way around the paper. You couldn’t flip the paper upside down; there’s not a correct way to look at it. We worked from all sides.”

She said as some people worked on one part, they became a little bored with it and started working with another part of the drawing.

She said communication was a key element in creating the drawing.

“We couldn’t be very territorial and artists usually are,” Mai said.

Mai said no color was used in the piece because with 20 people working on the same project, color can become complicated.

Starting in February, Art League members spent about three weeks filling in the paper. They then hung it up and critiqued it as a group. After deciding what worked and what did not, three people finished by “tightening it up.”

Whitney Fair, freshman studio art major, was one of the students who worked on the project. He said it was a good project for Art League to do.

“Actually seeing the collaborative work come together, everybody adding something to it, it was all enjoyable,” Fair said.

Jason Stamper, senior graphic arts major, then took about 15 different photographs of the piece and digitally integrated them using Photoshop.

He then took it to Eccentrix, where he works, and printed the digital image on sections of peel-and-stick vinyl using a new large-format printer.

Art League members installed the sections in the beginning of April.

“We actually have had some professors who are not necessarily big art enthusiasts say that they really like the art that the students put up,” Kleindl said.

Mai said the installation is temporary, but it will likely be up through the summer.

Both Kleindl and Mai said future projects are likely. Mai said she has already spoken with Wendy McGrane, director of Spiva Library.

“She’s been talking about offering the stairwells in the library as possible mural or installation space for us,” Mai said.

The art department will present the work Friday during the close of the Midwest College Salon and fabric installations will draw the two together. Fair is doing the fabric installation.

He said he wanted to bring something big, artistic and colorful to campus, and the installations will do that.

“I wanted to link those areas, so people could actually follow the fabric installation and know where to go,” he said.

Friday’s viewing will run from 5-9 p.m. in Spiva Art Gallery and Matthews Hall. Other exhibits are being constructed on the grounds throughout campus.