Patricia "Pat" Manarin was the founding art professor at South Mountain Community College, where she spent over 20 years teaching fine arts. Her impact on the community didn’t just make a lasting impression on students, but it can be seen throughout the campus as her art continues to live on.
The mosaic artwork embedded in the external walls of the Learning Resource Center was a piece created by Manarin during her time at SMCC.
“She used significant technique to create the tiles, as she dyed the white porcelain various colors, then molded them into small shapes, piecing everything together as a puzzle,” said SMCC History Faculty Dr. Summer Cherland. Her work was preserved throughout the years, as a real effort was made to protect the piece from demolition especially when the LRC was eventually remodeled.
“She was also foundational to the movement that brought public art, such as the mandela, to campus,” said Dr. Cherland. The mandela now serves as a giant map, highlighting crucial degree programs on campus and acts as a vital resource for students.
It isn’t just Manarin’s own personal art that has continued to decorate the walls of campus, but her work with students has left a visual representation for years to come.
She guided students in her class in creating the “A Brief History of Technology” mural that lives outside the Technology Center. The large-scale ceramic project was composed in 2004 as students created five sections that represented different “steps” in the advancement of technology. Through Manarin’s expertise and support, the mural was completed and installed in 2006 and since then has been one of the staple art pieces that people first see when entering campus.
Manarin continued to inspire mural-making, as she spearheaded the Student Union mural, which was a project created and painted by students in 2009. The mural has since been taken down, but a panoramic photo was sectioned and framed to hang in its place still depicting the essence of the original. The art also serves as the banner on the South Phoenix Oral History Project website and has been used in other digital materials, becoming a prominent piece of SMCC’s artistic history.
(Students painting the mural in 2009)
Within her two decades of contributions to SMCC, Manarin helped students define their skills in ceramics, sculpture and other fine arts through her teachings, all while also advocating for public art on campus and winning grants.
She passed away in September 2024 but her legacy is everlasting, making a distinct mark. It remains evident through her art pieces which have continued to be ingrained in the design of the campus even after years of change and reconstruction.
Manarin’s daughter, Karina, recently visited campus on April 20, where she toured the many pieces that represent her mother’s years of work at the college and saw firsthand the impact she has made.
(Karina Manarin alongside Pat’s artwork outside of the LRC.)
Photo by Kate Lynch