Elevator doors open to a quiet, polished space inside the Chancellor’s Suite at Kyle Field, where a vibrant landscape of the campus stretches across the wall. Framed by the branches of the Century Tree, familiar landmarks emerge in brushstrokes — a visual welcome to Aggieland has appeared.

The mural, created by Texas A&M College of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts’ instructional assistant professor Cara Baxter, is one of the newest artistic additions to A&M. Completed just a few days before Fall 2025’s first football game, the piece blends campus identity with artistic expression, offering visitors a first impression that is both personal and distinctly Aggie.

According to Baxter, the opportunity came unexpectedly as she was preparing to begin her first semester teaching at A&M.

“It was sort of part and parcel with joining the university because my contract began in September,” Baxter said. “I was getting ready to start the new semester at my new job, getting to know my new colleagues, attending meetings. And at one of our meetings, there was just a general announcement … that there was interest in creating a new mural at the Chancellor’s Suite, and they were looking for volunteer artists, and I volunteered.”

However, the project came with a tight deadline, as it had to be ready for the rapidly approaching football season. According to Baxter, though, that constraint became part of the appeal.

“In for a penny, in for a pound,” Baxter said. “Everything was new, everything was crazy, so I figured how much crazier could it get with the mural. And specifically, there was a pretty tight deadline. They wanted the mural to be ready for the first football game of the season. And this was in late August, so it was a really tight turnaround. And I’m a pretty speedy painter, and I like to work quickly.”

Rather than slowing the process, the limited timeline shaped how Baxter approached the work, pushing her toward a more immediate and instinctive creative process.

“I loved it,” Baxter said. “I mean, it was really fun. And I think that the tight timeline made it a challenge. You know, I wanted to deliver something really high quality in the time that they needed it.”

While considering what to include in the piece, Baxter wanted to ensure the mural would pull together recognizable elements of campus into a single composition, combining structure, symbolism and color into a unified scene.

“Essentially, it’s a stylized landscape of the university,” Baxter said. “So a few of the university landmarks are all presented together, the Academic Building, Kyle Field, Rudder Tower and framing that little vignette is the Century Tree.”

Even though the imagery appears seamless in its final form, Baxter said the design process involved multiple concepts before settling on the final direction.

“They wanted something that was a tribute to Aggieland and a tribute to the university, which is pretty broad,” Baxter said. “So my three ideas were either the tree with the campus hallmarks, some kind of ‘Howdy’ thumbs up or something to do with the class ring.”

Once Baxter settled on her Century Tree concept, the process moved quickly from digital planning to physical execution, with efficiency playing a key role in meeting the deadline.

“I began with a digital sketch,” Baxter said. “And from there, because I didn’t have very much time to complete the mural, I used a projector to get that digital sketch set up onto the wall. And from there, I just directly painted using brushes and acrylic paint.”

Even with a more structured starting point, Baxter said the transition from digital design to paint allowed for more expression and refinement in the final piece.

“I do think that the digital imagery has a coldness to it, a lifelessness,” Baxter said. “But I wanted to make sure that this was a warm and inviting scene. So when I actually put it up on the wall, I focused on the brushwork, on the edge quality, on making it feel like you could detect a human hand.”

After days of work in the Chancellor’s Suite, Baxter stepped back to see the finished mural not just as a completed project, but as part of a transformed space.

“I was really pleased,” Baxter said. “I like the idea that it’s this warm vision of Aggieland that’s enlivening a space that could be a little bit cold otherwise.”

The location itself adds to the mural’s impact, positioned as one of the first things visitors see when entering the suite. 

Beyond aesthetics, Baxter said she hopes the mural contributes to a broader recognition of the arts within A&M’s identity.

“I hope they get the sense that A&M is a home of the arts and A&M loves its arts,” Baxter said. “I like to think that it could be something they think of immediately because there are some world class, incredible artists here.”

For Baxter, the mural also represents a personal milestone — one tied closely to the beginning of her time at the university. That sense of a new era helped to shape how she views both the mural and her role at A&M, where teaching and creating exist side by side.

“I love teaching at A&M,” Baxter said. “I think Aggies make incredible students. I love my colleagues, my coworkers. I’m part of some really cool teams now.”

As visitors step into the Chancellor’s Suite, the mural stands as both a visual introduction to campus and a reflection of the people who shape it — a blend of tradition, creativity and new beginnings all captured in one piece.

“I will always associate it with arriving at this university and starting this new job,” Baxter said. “It’s just so infused with the very beginning, the start of that exciting new chapter.”