The students tasked with making the mural divided up the duties according to their strengths—Yahira Torres (’19) organized the project; Adel DiPersio (’19) made the canvases and painted the background, and Julie Howard (’17) painted the figure of Coppens. Faces are hard to do, especially at the scale depicted here; Howard began by painting large shapes of color which she slowly built up and defined through layers and layers of loose, painterly strokes. Be sure to stand back from the mural to see how all the brushstrokes come together to convey Dr. Coppens’ warmth. The mural was painted in Mahoney Hall—the panels are so large that Julie and Adel could paint side by side—and then installed in O’Leary for the dedication in March of 2020.