Convergence of Creativity
Art Department Faculty Design Mural for TI
By Tori Walters
A mixed media mural, titled Integrated, was installed in the lobby of the new Texas Instruments building in Sherman. The art was designed by Austin College faculty artists, Brianna Burnett ’02 and Mark Monroe ’81 (pictured below).
There’s been a lot of buzz about the investment Texas Instruments (TI) is making in Texoma and the opportunities that might bring to the community. One unexpected opportunity to connect Austin College and TI came in the form of an installation in the new TI building in Sherman by two faculty members in the Art Department.
When TI put out a call for artists to design a piece for their new Sherman facility, Assistant Professor of Art Brianna Burnett ’02 and Professor of Art and Art Department Chair Mark Monroe ’81, known collectively as Alliterations, answered the call and were selected for their conceptually rich and visually compelling piece titled Integrated. Monroe, a sculptor, and Burnett, a photographer and digital media artist, had already begun collaborating on work that blended their specialties under the Alliterations moniker. Integrated is a mixed-media mural that combines historical photographs, text, and maps with sculptural elements made of anodized aluminum, lights, and semiconductor wafers, to explore the intersections of history, technology, and place. The layered design reflects the evolution of Sherman itself—its growth, innovation, and enduring sense of community.
“What we really tried to [...] focus on is our long, rich legacy here in Sherman, Texas,” said TI Factory Manager Mike Haggerty. “Our ongoing investment and involvement, not just in this region, but in our local community, in the arts, in education, and really focus on the historical impact that innovation and technology have had in Sherman. They [Burnett and Monroe] brought a really dynamic piece that tied nicely together the history here in Sherman, Texas, with our technology and innovation that we’ve driven in this area, as well as looking into the future from a technology perspective.” He continued, “It’s interesting that they were able to incorporate silicon wafers that we actually manufactured.” Burnett and Monroe were inspired by the modern materials and archival cyanotype images of circuits that TI manufactured in their early days, which inspired the color scheme for the piece.
Integrated combines historical imagery with semiconductor components to explore the intersections of history, technology, and place.
By blending archival imagery with abstracted semiconductor graphics and cityscape motifs, Burnett and Monroe created a piece that highlights the unseen connections between place and progress. Historical photographs and industrial records serve as anchors mapping the city’s past, while the semiconductor components symbolize the innovation driving its future.
“The rhythmic structures of the present visually parallel the repetitions of history—city grids, industrial expansion, and human innovation,” Burnett explained. The work ultimately invites viewers to see their surroundings as layered histories, where past and future are continually in conversation.
At its core, Integrated is more than a mural. It’s a conversation between industry and artistry, past and present, and community and creativity. Through this installation, Burnett and Monroe remind viewers that even in the most technical spaces, art continues to reveal the human story layered beneath.
“We wanted a piece that would be timeless,” said Haggerty. “A piece that would become a landmark in this building, a piece that the team here would be proud of, and ultimately a piece that would sow hope into the future of innovations yet to come.”
Photos Courtesy of Alliterations