Julian T. White Mural
Artist: Robert Dafford
University Case Study
At the heart of Louisiana State University's campus, the College of Art & Design atrium has long served as a gathering place for the next generation of Louisiana's creative visionaries. When college leadership set out to honor the naming of the atrium after Julian T. White, the first African American professor in LSU's history, they knew a small bronze plaque would not be enough. As Dean Alkis Tsolakis put it:
"We thought that this man's contribution that freed and opened the doors of LSU to everyone was great enough to be commemorated in a way just as exceptional as he and his teaching was."
The answer was a monumental portrait mural rising 68 feet above the atrium entrance, executed by Lafayette-born master muralist Robert Dafford, a globally recognized artist with nearly 500 public works to his name.
The project required Dafford to engineer a custom pulley system to navigate the nearly 70-foot vertical space on an active campus, and a serious mid-production injury halted progress for six months before the work was finally installed. The finished mural became the 100th public artwork in The Walls Project's catalog, a milestone reflecting the organization's commitment to art with genuine cultural weight. Where Professor White spent 33 years opening doors at LSU, the mural ensures his legacy remains visible to every student, faculty member, and visitor who walks through the atrium.
