COLUMBIA, Ky. (08/07/2025) - Artist Dani Ford of Jamestown, KY has transformed one of the oldest spots on the Lindsey Wilson University campus into one of the more picturesque.
And she hopes it will also become a "timeless," picture-perfect location at the university.
Ford has painted a mural on a western side of Phillips Hall, a residence hall that is one of Lindsey Wilson's two oldest buildings. The mural, painted in rich and vibrant colors, measures 18 feet by 14 feet and covers about 250 square feet on a wall that faces the L.R. McDonald Administration Building, the university's other remaining building from when Lindsey Wilson opened on Jan. 3, 1904, with three buildings.
The mural, commissioned by the university, features "Lindsey Wilson" in script with "Columbia, Kentucky" printed on the bottom with "Est. 1903," the year the school was founded. The Lindsey Blue background features magnolia tree flowers and pine cones, a tribute to the campus' flora and heritage. Gold elements are a nod to the university's historic John B. Begley Chapel.
"I wanted it to be something that is timeless and something that can last on this wall for a very long time," said Ford, who also teaches art and arts administration classes at Lindsey Wilson.
Lindsey Wilson's A.P. White Campus is known for its stately magnolia trees. The campus sits on land formerly called the Arbor Vitae, once the home of early Columbia resident Col. William Owens. The Arbor Vitae was known for its pine trees, which Owens was said to have brought to Columbia from his native Virginia.
Research behind the design
Ford, who has painted nearly two dozen murals, said that "about 80% of the process is planning and design, and then the painting is the fun part."
Before Ford could have fun with the Phillips Hall brick wall, she conducted a great deal of research, which included holding several meetings with Lindsey Wilson faculty, staff and members of the administration.
"It was definitely a collaboration," she said. "I had help from a lot of brilliant people on campus. I was so happy to have their input."
One of the more beneficial meetings came at the Sue Cravens Stivers Alumni House, where Ford viewed editions of The Pine Cone, Lindsey Wison's former yearbook that first appeared in the 1920s.
"That gave me such a great sense of what Lindsey Wilson meant, where it's been and where it's going," said Ford.
Ford also gives a lot of thought to a mural's colors. For the Lindsey Wilson mural, she incorporated several of the university's brand colors.
"When I am sketching out a mural I think about what it will look like in photos," she said. "I wanted this mural to be extremely photogenic. I wanted its elements to pop out and be something you can see from the road."
A family affair
Lindsey Wilson's mural project had been in the works for about a year, and it took Ford less than two weeks to paint it -- thanks to a little help from her immediate family members.
On the evening of July 27, Ford and her husband, Lucas, were joined by their children Sawyer, 12, and Daisy, 9, to sketch out in pencil the mural's design on the Phillips Hall wall. Because of the oppressive heat and stifling humidity in late July, Ford worked on the mural primarily in evenings. A two-inch short-angle brush was her favorite tool to use to transfer the mural from paper to wall.
"I work in a marathon way," said Ford. "I like to come to the mural, and I don't want to leave until it's done. I really get into a flow, and I want to see it through. It is very physical, and I will probably sleep for a week after it's over, but I enjoy the thrill of it so much."
The Lindsey Wilson mural is the 20th Ford has painted in the region, but it's the first one she has painted in Adair County. And it all started in 2003, when Ford's mother, Danita, asked her to paint a Beatrix Potter scene on a bedroom wall for her sister, Mia.
"I was scared to death, but after that I kind of got the mural bug," said Ford.
Heart and soul
Ford said that a mural is "such a big proclamation of what the heart and soul of a place can be, and it can attract so many visitors."
Ford said she hopes the Lindsey Wilson mural will be a place where prospective students and their guests pause to snap a photograph while touring the campus, where current students will gravitate for group pictures when they return each semester, and a last stop that graduates make to capture one final moment of their Lindsey Wlson years. In short, Ford hopes the mural becomes a destination for members of the Lindsey Wilson community.
"I really want this to become a place where people say, 'Meet me at the mural,'" she said.
