The Penn State Great Valley Community Mosaic has been installed! The mosaic was designed by MSOP's own Claire Brill as an interpretation of the Penn State logo, and made during the opening reception of MSOP's Parts of a Whole exhibit at the Conference Center at Penn State Great Valley. An animated group of about 30 volunteers lent their hand to the making of the mosaic, lead by committee members Claire Brill, Carol Hemsley, Barbara Bix, Barbie Henig and Susan Kelly, who had previous painted the design onto the substrate and pre-cut all of the tesserae from material donated by volunteers during a drive at a previous general meeting of the Society. A combination of blue and white china, dishes, glass tile, and ceramic tile were used.
It was a great opening event for what was a very successful exhibit, and the making of the mosaic allowed visitors and guests to observe first-hand the making of a large scale mosaic (40" x 33"). The project inspired Penn State to do their own community mosaic, a large Nittany Lion, that they plan to accomplish with the help of volunteer graduate students at the campus later this year. The mosaic was later grouted by MSOP members and installed at the Conference Center in time for Penn State Great Valley's 50th anniversary celebration. It can be viewed when the Conference Center is open to the public.