Local artist Bonnie Cohen unveiled her new piece titled CONNECT at the Washkewicz College of Engineering at Cleveland State University at the start of the new semester.
She graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University and worked in the corporate design field for 15 years. Her art is featured in a variety of different settings such as religious buildings, universities and private galleries.
Cohen was one of the 40 artists who applied for the $240,000 commission from the Ohio Percent for Art program. 
The program, established with legislation passed on July 1, 1990, mandates that every state-funded building costing more than $4 million must allocate 1% of funds for the acquisition or creation of art for the building.
The 55-foot-long mural is comprised of more than 60 colors and 80,000 different pieces of material. The mosaic’s letters and colors can be seen from across the street, a feature Cohen remarked about the first time she visited the site.
“The wall was crying out for something bright,” she said.
The CONNECT mural was the biggest project she had ever created. According to Cohen, the entire project took her 18 months to complete. 
“I spent the first six months doing a lot of research and speaking with engineers,” Cohen said. “The mural itself took about a year to build and install.”
Cohen said the she wanted to make sure the piece fit the environment and would be appreciated by everyone who walked past.
“It was the perfect intersection of art and science coming together,” she said.
The mural is now a part of Washkewicz Hall where hundreds of students view it as they pass by every day.  
“I love watching people’s faces when they see the colors and pick out all of the letters,” Cohen said.