The Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship held its fifth annual mural design competition with the prompt “Essence of Entrepreneurship” on May 12. Since 2021, the Field Center has opened the competition to Baruch College students to create a mural that represents what entrepreneurship means to them.

For the past two years, murals featuring animals like ducks and frogs earned a place in the wall, but this year, a mural that paid tribute to the Field Center captured the popular vote.

One of the students on the winning team, Rullyann Dharma, an intern at the MakerHub startup in the Field Center, said the mural marked the closing chapter of her college career.

“Making this mural is my final goodbye to the office,” Dharma, the graduating senior with a degree in operations management, said. “I’m turning a new page, but it’s not to say that the memories that I made here won’t make an impression.”

Dharma joined MakerHub in her sophomore year as an intern for one of the many startups the Field Center supports. 

She called the office her home, choosing to feature the center’s staff in the mural.

The mural spells out the word “CREATE” in 3D capital letters, inspired by the theme of creativity. Each letter contains references depicting the staff and students of the Field Center.

Upon close inspection, viewers can spot people working in cubicles, holding meetings at a conference table and a student pitching at a podium.

Baruch’s elevators are also included, and atop the letter “T” is the Field Center’s executive director, Marlene Leekang, in her cubicle.

Dharma created the mural with her friend Tara Basdeo, who helped her fine tune the piece.

Basdeo, who is graduating this fall, said the mural was very personal, not just reflecting creativity, but also the memories she made at Baruch.

“It serves as a reminder that creativity is a form of working with other people and not just yourself,” Basdeo said. 

“It becomes a much more beautiful piece when you incorporate the people around you.”

Leekang said that the mural was “very surprising” in both design and the support it received, as it won over 50% of the vote. She added that she didn’t initially realize the mural was a tribute to the staff.

Voting is conducted by Field Center staff, with Leekang casting the final vote. Startups housed at the center, such as MakerHub where Dharma interns, are not involved in the voting process.

There were nine submissions this year, which were all displayed around the Field Center gallery-style.

With an hour to spare before the winner was announced, crowds gathered in front of each piece while artists explained their designs.

One submission featured cats working in several areas of business, either presenting a pitch or selling fish.

Another submission depicted a tree with light bulbs, the Field Center’s signature symbol, hanging from its branches.

“Because students have a different viewpoint of entrepreneurship, we get such different submissions,” Leekang said. “If you look around the room, everyone is looking at it in a different view. It’s really nice to see where students gravitate.”

Dharma and Basdeo’s mural will be displayed on the Field Center’s wall for the next year until the following competition.

For Basdeo, the mural holds a bittersweet meaning, both as a reflection of entrepreneurship at Baruch, but also what the mural signifies of her friendship with Dharma.

“It was personal because we incorporated our school and an atmosphere [Dharma] is constantly in,” Basdeo said. “She’s leaving and this is a little piece of what she got left here.”