Michigan Tech visual and performing arts students explore big questions through art. Allison Lewis ’26, a theatre and entertainment technology major and art minor, approached the final project for her art and design class by inviting others to share their experiences. The project prompt, “the human condition,” inspired Lewis’ interactive mural of her mother.
The size of the project is deliberate.“My mom is a really large influence in my life and I feel like I carry her with me the most,” said Lewis, “I wanted to not only celebrate her but let people celebrate the people in their lives who influenced them and who they are made up of.”
Lewis sent the initial invitation to collaborate on her art piece by posting the question “Who do you carry with you and how?” on her Instagram account. She gathered responses from her friends and followers and added them toward the top of the painting; a cloud of vulnerable and genuine stories around a loving depiction of her mother’s upturned face.
“I was inspired by the fact that we are a collage of the people that we meet and we carry them with us,” said Lewis.
The painting also included unfilled spaces on the lower half. A small plaque nearby invited visitors to the
Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts galleries to share their stories.
While speaking with one of those visitors at the art reception, Lewis found a new perspective on her work.The visitor’s father had passed away. Lewis’ painting helped the visitor to an understanding that she still carried him with her.
“That made me realize this is a celebration of life. It’s not just an art piece on a wall, it tells stories,” said Lewis. “I hope the people who saw it took the time to learn something about someone new.”
Terri Frew, visual and performing arts assistant teaching professor, called Lewis’ work “a very ambitious project.”
“We were encouraging Allison to explore the larger side of painting, as her specialization is scene painting,” said Frew. “She had a vision and saw it through. Sometimes that’s the difference between someone who is an artist and someone who is not.”
The artwork was painted over after the exhibition period. Lewis is accustomed to such endings. Her scenic art and set pieces are routinely dismantled at the end of theatrical productions.
“I’ve learned how to let go of my work in the past few years,” she said.
Just like the people who help to make us who we are, the Rozsa galleries will carry Lewis’ work into the next generation of Michigan Tech artists—even if it is hidden under the surface.
“You won’t be able to see it but in a sense it will live under the paint,” said Frew.
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