UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State College of Arts and Architecture student Margalo Guo creates new art while studying the history of art.
The second-year art history major has been painting murals since high school, recently completing murals on Calder Way and at 3 Dots in downtown State College.
She painted her first mural in response to a newspaper ad that her grandmother had mailed to her.
“It was a really small mural, only four feet by five feet, but I got that job … about a year later I ran into someone who I’d met through that first project and he offered me a much bigger project, which was a 20-foot mural at a restaurant,” Guo said.
She said she gravitated toward mural painting partially for the physicality — painting large works on a wall requires climbing on ladders and scaffolding.
“It’s very exciting and very physical,” Guo said. “It can feel a little depressing as a young artist creating all this work, all these paintings, and not having anyone see it because you don't have a show in a gallery … but when you do public art, anyone can see it.”
Typically, murals can take Guo anywhere from two days to two weeks to complete from when she begins to sketch the design to putting the final touches on the painting, she said.
Recently, Guo created a mural on canvas that said "#WeCreate" — one of the College of Arts and Architecture’s hashtags — for a donor event. This mural was unique because it included empty spaces where attendees could add their own touches.
“During the event, donors could come up and we had little foam stamps, and we also had brushes, and they could add whatever they wanted,” Guo said. “It gave the donors a chance to all add to the piece.”
In addition to downtown State College, she has created murals in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania, and in her hometown of Ithaca, New York. The Ithaca mural is her favorite so far, she said.
“It’s at the public elementary school near my house and has portraits of six local and community leaders in the town,” Guo explained. “It has a lot to do with anti-racism, especially anti-racism in education.”
Guo reflects on how that project taught her not only about creating murals, but how gratifying it can be to experience viewers’ reactions.
“It was just amazing to see people's reactions and to contribute to the town and school that I grew up in,” said Guo.
At Penn State, Guo is also involved in the School of Visual Arts Black, Indigenous and People of Color (SoVA BIPOC), where she serves as treasurer. The organization coordinates exhibitions highlighting BIPOC students.
“I’ve really appreciated all the friends I’ve made through the SoVA BIPOC club,” Guo said. “The people are great, and I enjoy it a lot.”
Graduation is still a few years away for Guo, but after getting her degree from Penn State she said she hopes to hit the road and travel to create her murals.
“I want to be able to travel all over the country. I hope to paint on a bigger scale, maybe in one of those big parking garages,” Guo said. “I haven’t seen a lot of the United States, so I would like to travel and paint in different places.”
Learn more about Margalo on her website.