Last November, Gator alumni and married couple Bobby and Brenda Ramos, owners of Ramos Renditions, unveiled the product of their monthslong labor: a mural on the tenth floor of the One Main Building.
The work, commissioned by the university and Wendy Burns-Ardolino, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), is just outside of the CHSS advising center and pays homage to the late UHD Art Professor Floyd Newsum while acknowledging the hard work of past, present, and future Gators.
“We wanted to make sure that [the mural] reflected a wide range of UHD experiences, not just ours,” said Brenda Ramos, noting that the student life side of things was just as important to her and her husband as the educational.
After an initial sketch (and many revisions of that sketch), they began the process of transferring their vision to a much larger scale, aiming to capture the many facets of a student’s life: Gators with graduation caps, UHD colors, the Houston Metro Red Line, a visual nod to Newsum’s downtown sculptures, and, of course, the bayous. As each element was added, their vision began to take shape.
“Not everything went as planned,” said Bobby Ramos. “You adjust, you modify, and you make things work. That’s what college is as well, and that same ability to adapt that we learned at UHD is what helped us realize this mural.”
Asked about their hope for its impact, both Brenda and Bobby Ramos spoke of fostering optimism and feelings of belonging, as well as Gator grit—the unwavering spirit of perseverence that takes all Gators beyond the bayou.