{"id":10307,"date":"2026-08-26T21:10:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T21:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/?p=10307"},"modified":"2026-08-22T21:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T21:11:44","slug":"montana-states-robert-rath-designs-large-scale-mural-outside-shroyer-gym-to-celebrate-athletic-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/?p=10307","title":{"rendered":"Montana State\u2019s Robert Rath designs large-scale mural outside Shroyer Gym to celebrate athletic success"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new\u00a0large-scale art installation celebrating Montana State University\u2019s\u00a0student-athletes\u00a0is now on display for public viewing.<\/p>\n

The artwork is on the west-facing exterior of Shroyer Gym on\u00a0the\u00a0MSU campus,\u00a0located\u00a0between the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse and Jones Hall.\u00a0It\u00a0is viewable to passersby\u00a0and\u00a0those traveling in\u00a0vehicles\u00a0through campus on 11th Avenue\u00a0and Lincoln Street.<\/p>\n

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A new mural, designed and illustrated by Montana State University Co-Creative Director Robert Rath, depicts Montana State University NCAA sports on the side of Shroyer Gym in Bozeman, Mont. MSU photo by Colter Peterson<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Comprised of\u00a015 panels\u00a0with\u00a0original\u00a0printed\u00a0illustrations that\u00a0blend together\u00a0into a comprehensive mural, the artwork\u00a0represents\u00a0all the\u00a0men\u2019s and\u00a0women\u2019s\u00a0sports\u00a0teams\u00a0overseen by\u00a0MSU Athletics.\u00a0Each panel is\u00a0made of thick vinyl\u00a0ranging in size\u00a0from\u00a09 to\u00a012 feet\u00a0wide\u00a0and\u00a033 to 37\u00a0feet\u00a0tall,\u00a0and is\u00a0coated with UV and weather protectant,\u00a0with the\u00a0combined panels\u00a0spanning the\u00a0entirety\u00a0of the gym\u2019s\u00a0roughly\u00a0170-foot\u00a0exterior.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a rich history of athletic success at MSU, and this mural will pay homage to all our\u00a0student-athletes\u00a0and the sports they represent,\u201d said Leon Costello, director of athletics at MSU. \u201cThe west wall on Shroyer Gym is\u00a0basically a\u00a0giant\u00a0billboard,\u00a0and we are proud it will now highlight our athletic department.\u201d<\/p>\n

Installation\u00a0took place\u00a0the\u00a0week of\u00a0Aug. 17,\u00a0in time\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0start of\u00a0MSU\u2019s\u00a0fall semester\u00a0on\u00a0Aug.\u00a026.\u00a0In preparation, minor repairs were completed on Shroyer Gym:\u00a0the\u00a0entire west face of the building (approximately 8,000 square feet) was repainted to refresh the building’s appearance and connect it visually with the Student Wellness Center.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0project\u00a0has a two-fold goal: highlight the\u00a0ongoing\u00a0success of\u00a0MSU\u2019s\u00a0Bobcat Athletics\u00a0and make the campus corridor\u00a0adjacent to\u00a011th Avenue more visually appealing.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0original\u00a0artwork was\u00a0entirely\u00a0hand-drawn\u00a0by co-director of MSU Creative Services\u00a0Robert\u00a0Rath.\u00a0A career graphic designer and illustrator, he said the mural is the largest project he\u2019s worked on to date.<\/p>\n

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Robert Rath, Montana State University Co-Director of Creative Services in University Communications, is pictured with a mural he designed and illustrated that spans the side of Shroyer Gymnasium, Friday, Aug. 21, 2026 in Bozeman. MSU photo by Kelly Gorham<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rath spent\u00a0several months\u00a0designing the mural,\u00a0going through multiple drafts to ensure\u00a0all\u00a013\u00a0athletic teams were included,\u00a0visible\u00a0and met the\u00a0expectations of\u00a0university constituents.<\/p>\n

Rath\u00a0created\u00a0illustrations of generalized student-athletes, aiming for bold lines and\u00a0simplicity\u00a0so the art would still\u00a0be appealing\u00a0from far away, but with enough detail for up-close viewing.\u00a0Computer\u00a0files\u00a0eventually\u00a0became banners\u00a0installed\u00a0by\u00a0Bozeman-based\u00a0company SCS\u00a0Wraps.<\/p>\n

Rath said his career highlights include\u00a0developing\u00a0the character design for \u201cGoosebumps,\u201d a popular children\u2019s book series that features iconic\u00a0illustrations of monsters.\u00a0He has also\u00a0painted several\u00a0murals and designs on garage doors\u00a0in\u00a0Bozeman\u00a0and\u00a0designed the custom license plate for\u00a0the\u00a0Montana\u00a0Wilderness\u00a0Association that features a western meadowlark and\u00a0a\u00a0bitterroot flower.\u00a0But the Shroyer Gym mural will be the largest physical display of his artistic talent to date \u2013 something Rath is staying humble about.<\/p>\n

\u201cAside from it being a huge honor, it will be kind of weird,\u201d Rath said of seeing his work in such a public-facing location. \u201cI don\u2019t like to draw too much attention to myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

By: Isabel Hicks, MSU News Service\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new\u00a0large-scale art installation celebrating Montana State University\u2019s\u00a0student-athletes\u00a0is now on display for public viewing. The artwork is on the west-facing exterior of Shroyer Gym on\u00a0the\u00a0MSU campus,\u00a0located\u00a0between the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse and Jones Hall.\u00a0It\u00a0is viewable to passersby\u00a0and\u00a0those traveling in\u00a0vehicles\u00a0through campus on 11th Avenue\u00a0and Lincoln Street. A new mural, designed and illustrated ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[576],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10307"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10307\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10309,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10307\/revisions\/10309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radio406.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}