Packed with hidden gems like buggy races, bridges, and house mascots, MFA alumna Rosabel Rosalind’s public murals celebrate CMU’s creative community.
Rosabel Rosalind’s public artwork at Carnegie Mellon University started with a crash. “My iPad would overheat and crash after about 20 minutes, because the design has so many tiny marks and moving parts, especially the floral background,” she said. A 2023 School of Art MFA alumna, Rosalind is a painter whose multidisciplinary practice spans tattooing, drawing, comics, and installation. Until her mural for the Margaret Morrison Street Neighborhood Commons, however, she had resisted even owning an iPad. A growing number of illustration commissions finally pushed her to learn Adobe Illustrator — and the challenges she encountered became part of her creative output. “There are little bits and pieces that it’s clear I didn’t have a full understanding of how to paint in Illustrator, but I really like those little quirks and moments where certain shapes kind of disappear. I used those to my advantage, treating them like another form of paintbrush.”
West Mural
Rosalind began her proposal for The Neighborhood Tapestries just months after graduating in 2023. The design evolved through refinements and site visits over the following year, and the printed vinyl murals were installed at the start of 2025. Separated into two distinct panels flanking the east and west sides of the Commons fireplace, the composition draws on the limited palette and narrative richness of medieval tapestries. “I am a real lover of medieval tapestries,” she explains. “I like the fact that they all use the same palette to convey a beautifully vibrant landscape.” A fantasy of flowers — some real, some invented — creates an intricate background, enveloping the figures in a sense of timeless beauty. Much like tapestries that once warmed interior walls, Rosalind envisioned her murals as a complement to the more minimal architecture of the Commons. “The site is so gorgeous,” she says. “It’s bright, clean, and modern, but I felt like what it needed was some warmth. As an artist, I’m always thinking about the relationship between my work and architecture, especially in public art.”
East Mural
To connect the piece to CMU’s campus culture, Rosalind embedded campus-specific “Easter eggs” like dorm mascots, buggy culture, Pittsburgh bridges, and an Andrew Carnegie quote about libraries. Many of the figures are modeled after real CMU students, as well as Rosalind’s friends. One thing you won’t find? “I didn’t want any phones or laptops. I wanted it to feel timeless, without any references to modern technology.”
The title also reflects Rosalind’s layered inspirations, nodding to both the purpose of the Commons and Pittsburgh icon Mister Rogers, whose signature line “Won’t you be my neighbor?” embodies the spirit of community. “I hope students see themselves in the work and feel part of a larger community, one that’s been around for a long time and will continue after them,” she says. “The mural shows people gathering in different ways, whether together or alone, and I want it to reflect the many ways we connect as a community.”
