A mural has the power to transform a wall into a gateway of discovery, inviting communities to step between the worlds of the past and the possibilities still to come. This fall, visitors entering the Yale Peabody Museum have witnessed such a portal taking shape.
"Temporal Portal," a new mural inspired by the Peabody’s collections, was designed and painted by Yale students in the museum’s central gallery as part of “Cave Paintings to Graffiti: History of Mural Painting,” a course taught by Kymberly Pinder, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Dean of the Yale School of Art, in collaboration with muralist Irisol Gonzalez-Vega.
The Central Gallery became a living studio where visitors observed the evolution of community artwork grounded in plant life, deep time, and collective imagination. Rooted in the Peabody’s botany collection and natural history evolution, The Peabody as a Portal introduces a passageway through geologic eras to the Central Gallery’s Botany exhibition, encouraging viewers to reflect on the past while imagining the future of the natural world.
Under the guidance of Dean Pinder and Gonzalez-Vega, Yale students studied the long history of mural painting, from Paleolithic cave walls to contemporary street art, and drew from this context to design an imaginativepiece unfolding in layers.
Student Gaya Buchta, who led the design team, was inspired by Zallinger’s "The Age of Reptiles." “We chose to transform his idea of an illustrated timeline into a representation of how visitors experience that journey through time, and how vastly disparate eras and locations are represented in one museum,” Buchta said.
The mural depicts ancient flora to potential future plants, incorporating silhouettes of species and objects found in the museum’s galleries and collections. Its furthest layer envisions an imagined future ecology, reminding viewers that evolution continues beyond our present.
Human figures depicted along the bottom right serve as proxies for each visitor entering the museum. Positioned at the base of the mural, the figures welcome viewers into a piece where art and science converge.
“The best part about teaching this course is seeing how the students come together to transform a public space for so many to enjoy long after the class ends,” said Dean Pinder.
“Seeing the mural come together and how it connects the museum, students, and the community has been really meaningful,” said Meena Ambati, a student in the course. “Every layer we paint, from real plants to imagined species, tells a story and invites us to consider the past, present, and future of the natural world.”
Playful “easter eggs” woven throughout the mural tie it to the course, the Peabody, and to Connecticut’s natural heritage: cave-painting motifs, elm trees, and garnet, the state mineral.
This fall, the Peabody hosted a community day, inviting Yale and New Haven community members to paint the mural and imagine the future of plant life. Contributions from that day inspired elements of the mural, directly connecting this project to the perspectives and creativity of the local community.
