Painting a Lafayette story

Isabel “Izzy” Sorrells ’23 | Photo by Ashli Truchon Novak

By Stella Katsipoutis-Varkanis

When artist Isabel “Izzy” Sorrells ’23 returned to Lafayette this March, it wasn’t just a homecoming. It was a transformation of memory into something tangible, collaborative, and lasting—a fitting way to celebrate Founders’ Week during the College’s historic Bicentennial.

Sorrells, who earned a bachelor’s degree in art, returned to campus March 10-12 to lead a collaborative mural project in Farinon College Center. The piece, composed of four wooden panels, invited students to use a paintbrush to leave their own mark on Lafayette. Featuring iconic campus imagery—from the Quad’s Adirondack chairs to Rivalry football helmets—the mural pays homage to both the College’s Bicentennial and the spirit of its community.

“We wanted it to be a community arts project that students could participate in,” Sorrells says. “That was one of the most exciting parts of it.”

Designed by Sorrells like a color-by-number painting, the mural allowed students to drop in between classes and activities, pick up a brush, and contribute to the effort however they wished. Some stayed for over an hour, carefully filling in entire sections, while others added just a few strokes. “Students can look back on the mural and say, ‘I painted that tree on the Quad,’ or ‘I painted the G in Lafayette College,’” Sorrells says.

Students stopped by Farinon College Center between classes March 10-12 to leave their own mark on the Founders’ Week mural. | Photo by Ashli Truchon Novak

She particularly enjoyed witnessing the project evolve as a shared experience amongst students. “It was fantastic to see them working alongside their friends and getting so excited and involved,” Sorrells says. “They were surprised by how relaxing and meditative the process could be.” For many students, she says, the mural offered a welcome respite from studying for midterms. “I’ve always found painting to be a calming process, and I was excited to get to share that with the students.”

Melissa Dalrymple, associate director of student involvement, worked closely with Sorrells on the planning of the project, collecting student input that ultimately helped Sorrells map out the mural’s layout and design. The modular structure of the piece will allow it to be displayed in various locations across campus.

Known for her oil paintings, Sorrells describes her artwork as an exploration of “survival as an ongoing process of transformation.” While the Founders’ Week mural differs from her surreal and introspective studio work, it reflects the same underlying goal: connection. “I want my art to require a viewer to look more closely and sit with it,” she says. “To slow down and really see.”

Transformation is a common theme for Sorrells’ artwork, through which she aims to connect with her audience and encourage them to slow down and savor the details. | Photo by Ashli Truchon Novak

That philosophy was born during her time at Lafayette, where Sorrells says her education and experiences revealed her true calling as an artist. When she arrived at Lafayette, Sorrells planned to double major in psychology and government and law. Though she had a lifelong passion for art, she initially set out to follow what she thought was a more traditional path to a career. But when she took Prof. Nestor Gil’s Sculpture I course, her perspective shifted. “He inspires his students to pay closer attention to the smallest details of their day-to-day lives,” she says. “Nestor helped me change the way I experience the world.”

Through assignments that encouraged deep observation and reflection, Sorrells began creating work inspired by her own life. Her final project for the course, she says, “was the first piece of artwork I ever created that engaged specifically with my personal experience,” she says. “I found it to be emotional and challenging, but it also gave me a sense of power and agency.”

It was then that Sorrells decided to change her major to studio art, after which she formed deeper connections within the campus community and rediscovered a sense of purpose. “It shaped my sense of identity and the way I interact with the world,” she says. “It completely changed the trajectory of my life in a way I never could have expected.”

In addition to Gil’s impact, Sorrells also credits much of her growth to the mentorship of art professors like Sun You and Pedro Barbeito. “They pushed me outside of my comfort zone in ways I needed,” she says. “It always felt like it was coming from a place where they believed in my ability more than I did.”

The finished Founders’ Week mural will be displayed in various locations across campus during Lafayette’s Bicentennial. | Photo by Ashli Truchon Novak

That encouragement continues to influence her work today. Since graduating, Sorrells has exhibited in galleries across New York City and her native Connecticut, completed commissioned pieces, and participated in the Canopy Program through NYC Crit Club, a yearlong mentorship initiative for emerging artists. In summer 2024, Sorrells was commissioned to paint a mural in Lafayette’s McCartney II apartment complex—her first large-scale public work.

“After seeing Izzy’s mural in the new McCartney lounge, there was no doubt she would be the perfect alum to bring this recent project to life,” says Dalrymple, who invited Sorrells back to campus for the Founders’ Week mural.  

Sorrells’ mural, shown prior to the opening of McCartney II | Photo by Adam Atkinson

Maintaining close ties with her alma mater and contributing to the College community that helped shape her, Sorrells says, is her way of “showing my love and gratitude for the faculty and the Art Department, and for the place where I had the most significant personal development of my life and truly found myself.”

Looking ahead, Sorrells plans to pursue a Master of Fine Arts and potentially teach at the college level. She hopes to help future generations of students find their sense of purpose, just as her mentors did for her, and to inspire them to explore the same themes of growth, resilience, and transformation she delves into through her own artwork. “It was a long journey back to art,” Sorrells says. “I wouldn’t even say that I found it. It found me. And I’m so glad it did.”