Perception of Staff and Students on the Effects of a Faculty-based Ceramic Wall Mural

The study surveyed staff and students perception of a ceramic wall mural, mounted more than eight years ago on Faculty wall at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) Bauchi. Employing structured questionnaire and a 5-point rating scale, it elicited opinion on the effectiveness of the mural s objectives of: (i) conveying the concept of self-employment/ entrepreneurship; (ii) advertising academic programmes of the School of Environmental Technology (SET); (iii) enhancing the exterior aesthetics of the host building and the environment. Data from 62 stakeholder-respondents comprising 28 staff and 34 students were analyzed with descriptive statistics which include frequencies and means; two hypotheses formulated were tested with chi-square inferential statistics. The mural was aggregately perceived effective in achieving above three objectives; however, extent of accomplishing objective (i) in Estate Management was undecided. There was a significant (p = 0.05) difference in the students and the staffs perception. It is concluded that post-installation critique and evaluation of mural-type public art would enrich the body of knowledge and inspire further public art installation. Pre-design evaluation of proposed public arts is recommended to ensure that such works achieve their desired objectives; and, it is imperative that opinions of all the community groups are factored into such evaluation.