Third annual Mending Walls mural combines designers’ cultures

By Michelle Diamond

Penn State’s 2026 Mending Walls mural came to life on a recent Sunday, bringing together both art students and non-art students to complete the mural via a “paint by numbers” process. This year’s mural designers are Sonia Lloyd, a third-year student double-majoring in art and psychology, and Angel Sandoval, a graduate student in scenic design.

Mending Walls Penn State’s goal is to bring social issues to light, sparking conversation through art. Every year, people of different backgrounds take part in the mural painting during community painting sessions on campus. The Mending Walls project started in Richmond, Va., in 2020. The Penn State iteration was established in 2024.

The 2026 Mending Walls mural was designed to showcase foods from the designers’ Chinese and Mexican cultures and how they bring people together.

“I used to eat dim sum a lot with my family,” Lloyd said. “So, I put a lot of my favorite dishes in the steamer baskets, and he [Sandoval] had poinsettias because that was often present in his family gatherings, so it was very personal in some aspects.”

Lloyd said the biggest challenge while working on this project was making sure the design was simplified enough to be turned into a “paint by numbers” while still using her personal art style.

The co-designers took their design and illustrated it onto “massive boards” to create the mural. Along with the portrayal of Chinese and Mexican foods, the design also showcases imagery of Chinese lanterns, the Lunar New Year Dragon, birds of paradise flowers and an overall fusion of their Chinese and Mexican cultures.

“Seeing everyone get together and bond over what they’re seeing on the boards and seeing the conversations they had with each other — it was really great,” Lloyd said. “This art piece that we made together is bringing all of these people together as well.”

A banner version of the mural will be hung in the Arts District.