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Husker Mural to Commemorate 300th Sellout
by ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer -- September 20, 2009
Steve Zimmer, of Lincoln, Neb., works on a mural being installed in the lobby of the Nebraska athletic department office building in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, Sept. 18, 2009. The new piece of artwork will commemorate the Cornhuskers' 300 consecutive football sellouts and serve as a conversation piece for visitors and prospective recruits. Once finished, the mural will measure 22-by-28 feet and be made up of 616 mosaic tiles depicting a full stadium with players celebrating and red balloons taking flight to signal the Huskers' first touchdown of a game. California artist Mike Sullivan was commissioned to design the mural. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

LINCOLN, Neb. - A new piece of artwork in the lobby of the Nebraska athletic department office building will commemorate the Cornhuskers' 300 consecutive football sellouts and serve as a conversation piece for visitors and prospective recruits.

The mural, to be unveiled Thursday, measures 22-by-28 feet and is made up of 616 mosaic tiles depicting a full stadium with players celebrating and red balloons taking flight to signal the Huskers' first touchdown of a game.

California artist Mike Sullivan was commissioned to design the mural. Athletic director Tom Osborne, who won 255 games and three national titles as the Huskers' coach from 1973-97, was among the university officials who consulted with Sullivan on the design.

"We know how important first impressions are for recruits, and we believe the Mike Sullivan mural will be a focal point that emphasizes our tradition for recruits and their parents when they first walk in the door," Osborne said. "It's kind of a warm way to welcome everyone, and we think it complements all of our other new displays of Husker history and memorabilia."

Sullivan also has done murals celebrating Southern California Trojan football at the Los Angeles Coliseum and Texas Longhorn football at Darrell K. Royal-Memorial Stadium in Austin. Sullivan also did a mural at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., that memorializes Army Ranger Pat Tillman, the former Arizona State and NFL player who was killed in Afghanistan.

The Nebraska mural does not depict any easily identifiable players or coaches.

"We didn't want to focus on a Heisman Trophy winner or Coach Osborne," Sullivan said. "We wanted to focus on the long history of the program."

He said he also wanted to convey the passion and power associated with Nebraska football.

"Seeing the Tunnel Walk and the sea of red in the crowd is an amazing visual image," he said, "and creates a statement of what Nebraska football is all about."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press

Nebraska to Unveil Mural Commemorating 300th Straight Sellout
Courtesy: NU Media Relations | Release: 09/20/2009
The Mike Sullivan mural in the North Stadium lobby will be the largest dye-sublimation tile mural in North America.

The University of Nebraska will commemorate its 300th consecutive football sellout at Memorial Stadium with a 22x28 ft.-themed mural designed by renowned artist Mike Sullivan.

According to Paul Whitehill of Images In Tile, a leading tile mural manufacturer based in Joplin, Mo., the mural in the North Stadium lobby of the Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex will be "the single largest [dye-sublimation] ceramic tile mural that has ever been created in North America".

The mural embodies the Cornhuskers' legendary football past and will be unveiled on Thursday, Sept. 24th, as part of a special set of installations at large colleges and universities across the country.

The mural has 616 12"x12" mosaic tiles and depicts a sold-out Memorial Stadium with football players celebrating while red balloons take flight to signal Nebraska's first touchdown of the game.

The concept for the mural was a collaborative effort among Osborne, Nebraska's former head coach and current athletic director, University officials and Sullivan. All had insight into the creation of the mural, which has been incorporated into the newly designed North Stadium lobby to attract fans and to appeal to recruits.

"We know how important first impressions are for recruits, and we believe the Mike Sullivan mural will be a focal point that emphasizes our tradition for recruits and their parents when they first walk in the door," Osborne said. "It's kind of a warm way to welcome everyone, and we think it complements all of our other new displays of Husker history and memorabilia."

Sullivan agrees. "Watching Nebraska football over the years has really shown me the passion and the power of the Huskers and their fans," he said. "Seeing the Tunnel Walk and the sea of red in the crowd is an amazing visual image and creates a statement of what Nebraska football is all about."

Sullivan said his goal was to create a mural that would capture that unique spirit of Husker football and give a person the sense of the history, pride and accomplishments of an elite program that has unequalled loyalty and fan support.

From an early age, Sullivan has shown a penchant for drawing and painting. His artwork has raised money for many charities and foundations, including The Magic Johnson Foundation and The Pat Tillman Foundation.

Sullivan's work continues to grow as he focuses on the human figure in sports and play, as well as other subjects created in his unique "chiseled" style of painting. Collectors of his work include Karl Malone, Ben Roethlisberger, Leigh Steinberg, John Salley, Carson Palmer, Jake Plummer, Tim Brown, Stephen Jones and many other athletes, corporations and art collectors.

Sullivan's art is displayed as part of a series of murals in such places as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the University of Texas and Arizona State University.

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