The San Miguel Residence Hall Stage Mural: A Canvas for Student Creativity and Community

Since 2014, the San Miguel Residence Hall Stage Mural has showcased student creativity while enriching the residential experience at UC Santa Barbara. Conceived by the Residential Housing Association (RHA), the project was created to provide a public space where student artists could share their work with the campus community.

The project became a reality through the collaboration of Andrea Vargas, a UCSB alumna and former Housing staff member, who worked with RHA and Residential Operations to develop the concept. Rather than creating a single permanent mural, Vargas envisioned four framed mural panels, with one panel replaced each year to create a rotating gallery of student artwork.

In 2017, the Arts & Culture Committee assumed stewardship of the project and, working with UCSB alumna Sydni Baker, established four guiding themes: The Environment, I Love UCSB, Community, and Diversity. Each Fall Quarter, the committee selects a student artist from submitted proposals to create the next mural.

For each artist, the commission is an opportunity to grow creatively and professionally. Beyond producing a large-scale work, artists gain experience developing concepts, collaborating with campus partners, and creating public art that becomes part of everyday campus life. Their work leaves a lasting impact while helping them build confidence, strengthen their portfolios, and deepen their connection to the UCSB community.

Reflecting on the newest mural, the artist Abigarrado, Roberto Rejopachi, 2026 (CCS Art) writes:

"Bypassing the ambiguity of contemporary life and the spaces we inhabit, this work is, in some ways, an admission of guilt... we often forget to appreciate the smaller things that surround us. Living among the coastal cliffs of California has fueled my desire to capture these subliminal landscapes... I strive to merge reality with imagination.

I want the viewer to see one image from a distance, only to discover something else as they move closer.

Forms begin to breathe; light, pattern, and movement reveal themselves, hinting at unseen life within the landscape—a vivid waltz that drifts across the sky. Sometimes I like to think that the audience are the true artists rather than myself, as each individual will interpret the work through the lens of their own experiences, memories, and environment."

More than a decade after its creation, the San Miguel Residence Hall Stage Mural continues to celebrate student voices and artistic expression. As each new mural is added, the installation grows into a living gallery that reflects the creativity, diversity, and sense of community that define UCSB.

The Arts & Culture Committee would like to thank AVC Willie Brown for his continued support of arts and culture in the housing communities we serve.