The Starbucks on Nassau Street in Princeton Borough features a painting by a university student.
By: Jeff Milgram
Every great artist leaves a mark.
"I felt that since I’m leaving my mark on Princeton, I’d do a self-portrait," said Princeton University senior Abbie Bagley-Young, 21, whose three-panel mural graces the interior of the Starbucks Coffee house on Nassau Street.
Ms. Bagley-Young’s mural was deemed the best of 12 entries in a mural contest that was aimed at capturing the "flavor" of Princeton, helping to offer residents a hangout that would reflect the community in which they live, said Elisa Venezia, regional spokeswoman for Starbucks.
A Starbucks in Boston is the only other outlet to have local artwork, she said.
Ms. Bagley-Young’s mural features a faux window pane split in three sections. The theme is 100 years of Princeton history and each panel represents a different era, as seen on Nassau Street.
The first panel reflects Princeton in 1900, the second in 1950 and the third in 2000. The third panel includes a cameo appearance of Ms. Bagley-Young.
Each panel depicts a different season. The first panel is painted in black and white and shows a snowy day; the second panel features Albert Einstein, who worked at the Institute for Advanced Study during his 20-year-stay in Princeton, in warm weather; and the third panel features a fall day with students, including Ms. Bagley-Young, hurrying to class.
Ms. Bagley-Young also is the winner of the Luce Graphics Prize, a university award for excellence in graphics design. She became interested in art as a young child.
"I got into drawing when I was little because I had lots of time and I was alone a lot," said Ms. Bagley-Young, the only child of a sociology professor father and a sociologist mother.
Once in high school, Ms. Bagley-Young’s interest in art grew and she began to create a series of self-portraits and grew interested in photography.
Ms. Bagley-Young was attracted to Princeton because of its reputation. She originally had planned to study medicine, but realized that art was her true passion. She is a senior majoring in art restoration and she hopes to work as an art restorer in Europe after graduation.
Her favorite themes are medical, partly due to her past interest in medicine and her mother’s victory over breast cancer.
"My mom is my hero," Ms. Bagley-Young said. "She has become a very strong person since being diagnosed."
In addition to working in the university’s library, Ms. Bagley-Young is a member of the Ghana Education Project, an organization that teaches high school students in rural Africa.
She frequently volunteers at fund-raisers and book drives to raise money for the Ghana school, and this past summer taught at the school.
Ms. Bagley-Young spends her free time cycling alongside the Delaware & Raritan Canal or lounging at the Princeton Battlefield State Park, where she got the inspiration for the mural.
Ms. Bagley-Young spends her late nights at Starbucks, downing Chai Latte and studying. She reports that she’s getting all A’s in her major.
She is saving for a new computer and has already launched a Web site (www.abbieart.com) on which she displays her art.
"I was inspired to enter the contest because it is my last year at Princeton and after an amazing four years, I really wanted to leave something behind for the university and town," Ms. Bagley-Young said. "Through the Starbucks mural contest, I found the opportunity to do so."
Along with getting to see the mural up on the wall, Ms. Bagley-Young received a $1,000 prize.
The mural will be formally unveiled at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Ms. Venezia said.