To create a distinctive environment at the newly renovated Medical Plaza Pharmacy, the USC School of Pharmacy went to the USC Roski School of Fine Arts to collaborate on how and what to create for the space on the Health Sciences Campus.

Pharmacy’s Mel Baron, associate professor of clinical pharmacy, and Ron Rizk, professor of painting and drawing in the School of Fine Arts, agreed a mural would be a perfect enhancement for the space. They devised a contest open to Rizk’s painting students, with each entrant submitting a 6 by 30-inch concept piece on which the mural would be based. The winning entrant then would create the mural for the actual space, with the School of Pharmacy, owner of the Plaza Pharmacy, awarding a cash prize to the winner.

Once the contest was posted, interested artists attended a meeting with Baron, who gave the student artists insights into the evolving role of pharmacy, helping them understand how pharmacy plays a pivotal role in today’s health-care continuum. Baron also provided the students with pharmacy journals and invited them to see the space where the mural ultimately would hang.

Six students entered the contest, each presenting a concept painting and an explanation of its meaning. The judges for the contest included Baron and Dean R. Pete Vanderveen from the School of Pharmacy; Sherry Cochran, director of the Medical Plaza Pharmacy; and Ruth Weisberg, dean of the School of Fine Arts.

Elizabeth Tilles, a senior art major, won the competition. Tilles will receive a $2,000 cash prize, and the School of Pharmacy paid for mural materials and installation. Tiprin Follett, also a senior art major, won both second and third places for her two entries. Follett will receive a cash prize of $1,000 for the concept pieces, both of which eventually will hang in locations at the School of Pharmacy.

The mural will be hung as the central focal point in the Plaza Pharmacy May 4.