Though rainy weather lingered around campus Oct. 26, it didn’t stop students from celebrating the opening of Lewis Science Center’s newly renovated atrium.
The project started with the vision of senior Cassia Cobb, who took on the atrium as a thesis project focused on mental health for her Schedler’s Honors Program capstone class.
Cobb, a health promotion major, said that the project came from the desire to see quality green spaces on campus.
“My mentor and I, we looked at what improves people’s mental health and we found from research that green spaces improve people’s mental health,” Cobb said. “So as a kind of contribution to promoting the mental health of students on campus, we wanted to improve access to quality green spaces.”
Cobb said the project didn’t come without plenty of help from willing individuals around campus.
“A lot of other people have been involved and we are so grateful for everybody’s help. We’re really excited for people to be able to use the space,” Cobb said. “My major role was coordinating people and getting funding. So I got funding from the Physical Plant who were great to work with. Kevin Carter was my main contact and then their carpenters built everything for free and came and installed it for free. I just gave them a design and they did it. It was amazing.”
Cobb also highlighted a contribution of $4,600 from UCA’s Student Government Association to purchase tools, soil and a shed.
Cobb also worked closely with UCA’s Green Bear Coalition and its president, junior Becca Chamoun. Chamoun is an environmental science major who shared Cobb’s motivation to make the atrium a great place students can use.
Chamoun said, “It used to just be barren. Someone walked by and they were like, ‘What’s going on out there?’ Because it just looked like someone handmade garden beds and was trying to do a little garden. It just didn’t look super great.”
Chamoun hopes students will engage with the space further now that it’s been renovated.
“I hope it draws people in and I really think that it will. Gardening, really, it’s not that hard. Most people can do it,” Chamoun said.
UCA President Houston Davis expressed a lot of pride for the project being completed and a lot of pride in how far Green Bear Coalition has grown in just a few years.
“It takes a lot of people working together to make this happen. But to know that it started with one or two students three years ago, saying ‘you know what? We’ve got an idea. We think this is worth our time and effort.’ We support that,” Davis said. “I see a vision kind of coming to fruition and I’m excited that this is a great addition to campus.”
Cobb said the doors to the space will be open any time Lewis’ doors are unlocked. She hopes students will take the time to stop by and enjoy the space.
“Students are more than encouraged to go sit out there, enjoy the space, either under the covered patio or in the built-in seating in between the beds. We would love people to start using it more,” Cobb said.
Cobb said she wanted to thank the additional collaborators who made the space possible, including the volunteer muralists, Madison Mainer and Franchelsa Francisco. She also wanted to thank the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dean Stephen Addison and community partner Candice Thomas.
“We are so grateful for everybody’s help and we’re really excited for people to be able to use the space,” Cobb said.
