Senior Stephanie Beraud has never taken an art class here at SDA, but that has not impeded her artistic expression. Beraud’s most recent art piece, which she spent a semester on campus creating, was installed outside of the screen printing room two weeks ago.

Beraud’s inspiration for the mural came from her love for mother nature and participation in the Eco Club on campus. The mural itself features live plants above the tree-shaped woman that Beraud installed with a specific purpose.

“The point of the woman is that she is supposed to bloom and the reason I didn’t draw any leaves was because I planted actual seeds and moss…Right now it’s getting more wintry so she’s starting to turn brown, but sooner or later it will go back to green and it will start growing and branching out and actually live off the mural,” said Beraud.

The plants were installed by placing seeds within cracks in the wood at the top of the mural and stapling moss to the plants to provide them with a source of water.

Beraud created the mural in the hopes of supporting body confidence, especially for girls. “It’s really nice because I feel people would usually cringe at the sight of a human body, like a natural woman,” she said. “So I think that was my goal: just to make girls comfortable with their bodies.”

Beraud got her start in art after her sister, who is also an artist, encouraged her to express her emotions through art. “I used to express my way through music, but I thought that’s not enough,” said Beraud. “So, when I started falling in love with someone, I wanted to have something more to give to him…I wanted to show my love through the paint and the hues and the saturation of the colors.”