Yvonne Bandy painted the Africa mural in Oscar Ritchie when she was 19 years of age.

If you walk on the second level of Oscar Ritchie Hall, you will see a brightly colored mural that spells out the word AFRICA in large letters. Look a little closer and you will notice profiles of Black people in the large letter forms. A chain runs across the bottom of the mural to symbolize oppression.   In 1971, Yvonne Bandy, the creator, was a Kent State art and design major. She was one of only a few Black art and design students out of about 500 total and among a handful of Black students asked to paint murals in what was then Lowry Hall. Bandy painted her murals on the back walls of...

Subscribe to