Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago

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Why did these mural painters write random letters and numbers on our walls in order to translate Mary Heilmann's painting into a large-scale exhibition?

There are several techniques for translating a painting into a wall-sized mural, while maintaining the original scale and proportions. Jana Liptak, the lead fabricator on the exhibition 'Mary Heilmann: Long Line,' shares with us the technique she used here, called a "scribble grid." We captured some of the behind-the-scenes process of how Jana and her fellow mural painters translated Mary Heilmann's painting onto the wall in our fifth floor galleries.

Mary Heilmann: Long Line is organized by Laura Phipps, Associate Curator. Learn more about 'Mary Heilmann: Long Line,' here: whitney.org/exhibitions/mary-heilmann-long-line

And experience the mural yourself, as the outside world changes through the windows: whitney.org/general-admission

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