Good Long Look, Mural Installation created by Mimi Cahalan

My specification drawings went to a professional who water-cut the thick aluminum sheets into the final pieces using a special computer program. When I laid them out, they fit perfectly together onto the four panels meant to become a 32ft. x 4ft. constructed mural.

After prepping the aluminum, I applied aluminum primer. My mock-up, in the background, here, served as a guide for color matching and assembly of the project throughout the process.

To accommodate the final outdoor location, I used sustainable tropical hardwood 2"x 2"s as framing for the marine plywood sheets that would hold the painted aluminum pieces.

Here, you see the paint curing on some of the 49 aluminum pieces spread out in no particular order.

The aluminum was cut to extend beyond the plywood panels, in order to wrap it around all of the outside edges to the back for a frameless 3-dimensional effect.

One panel was designed to fit around an existing door in the entryway wall. Besides requiring some careful measuring, I needed to consider this detail visually in terms of the design.

The finished panels in my studio--sealed, varnished, and ready to be shipped down to Santa Monica and installed together as one long mural.

It took a crew almost all day to hang this. They’ve earned my sincerest gratitude for doing such a careful and beautiful job. Later, a canopy with lighting directed at the artwork completed the entryway design.

The mural is mounted along one side of a covered entryway that leads from the sidewalk to the interior courtyard of a five-story building. Because of the long narrow space, I designed the mural to be viewed as people go past it.