Merrill College’s Mission Statement
Merrill College is dedicated to helping students engage responsibly with the world. As a community, we strive to embrace formative practices - to learn what we don’t know and how to know it, and to take action on what we have learned - in order to create a more just and inclusive world. Merrill strives to help students understand and develop their positions. We intentionally make space for a diversity of perspectives and encourage community members to own their impact on others.
Leave your mark on Merrill, and let your art inspire our community.
Merrill Programs and Leadership Office invites you to showcase your creativity through a mural painting! This year, we challenge you to explore Merrill’s ethos by creating a design that reflects:
Exploring Cultural Identities & Raising Global Consciousness or Celebrating the Ideas, Cultures, Voices, and Visions of the Merrill College Community.
Merrill-affiliated students and alums are encouraged to submit original artwork or reimagine a meaningful piece that resonates with these themes. Non-affiliated Merrill Students can submit a piece with a Merrill affiliate. This is your opportunity to make a lasting impact on the Merrill College campus through art!
The final day to submit designs is Sunday, March 2, 11:fpm
Please use our online form to submit your mural design. If you are experiencing difficulties submitting your design, please email your mural submission to MPLO-group@ucsc.edu.
Submissions must be a PDF, JPG, JPEG, or PNG file.
Merrill Programs Staff will notify winners via E-mail. Winning Muralists are expected to be painting on Moat Day, Saturday, April 12, 2025. Painting supplies, including an overhead projector, will be available for checkout. Muralists who cannot complete their murals on Moat Day can check out paints during selected weekday hours until Sun., June 15. We reserve the right to paint over unfinished murals.
Optional - In-person drop off: Merrill College Office: Mon – Fri. 9 am-12 pm and PM-PM (Located next to Merrill Circle) Attn. MPLO - Vero Shane-Vasquez |
- Your name(s), phone number(s), & email address.
- Which prompt are you responding to
- A 500-1000 word description of the significance of your mural design
- Confirm your college affiliation:
- A list of paint colors you would need to create your mural
- Title of your Artwork
- Upload your art submission
Policies and Submission Guidelines
As of March 15, 2008, UCSC’s Mural Policy forbids the recreation of copyrighted materials without written permission from the original author/artist.
Mural designs may not violate any section of the UCSC Rule Book, nor may they encourage other students to violate these rules.
No mural containing messages with malicious intent toward any individual or group will be permitted. No specific messages directed toward another person will be allowed.
It is important that any message you attempt to convey with your mural can be understood. A mural that, when separated from the content you supply with your submission, could be seen as being offensive to a person or group may not be selected. Run your design by a few people to ensure you get your point across.
Final decisions concerning which murals meet these guidelines rest with the College Programs Coordinator.
Group Mural Submissions: Group size can range from 2-6 individuals. Half of your group members must be Merrill affiliates. For instance, if you have 6 people in your group, at least 3 members must be Merrill affiliates.
