Beautiful new mural unveiled to inspire students to explore entrepreneurship

Velocity’s campus headquarters undergoes an artistic refresh with help from Socratica

A new mural in Velocity’s University of Waterloo campus community space is energizing student collaboration and innovation. 

Three members of Socratica, a collective of engineers, artists, writers, and everyone in between that co-work on passion projects, worked with Velocity to reimagine a student-led networking and innovation space in the Math and Computing building, MC 2037.

Members Zubrintha Radtina, current Global Business and Digital Arts student in Faculty of Arts, and University of Waterloo alumni Courtney Bye (BGBDA ‘23) and Anthea Tawiah (BGBDA ‘24) designed the mural to illustrate the collaborative spirit and creativity at Waterloo.

The trio designed a mixed-media mural, with hand drawn and digitally created art. 

“The mural represents students flying towards a similar destination and is symbolized through origami birds,” Radtina said. “It demonstrates how each one of us is different, but we are all working towards the goal of pursuing our dreams and ambitions.” 

The mural aims to inspire even more students to explore entrepreneurship. 

“Students from diverse backgrounds are working on inspiring projects but have not necessarily pictured themselves as entrepreneurs yet,” Krysta Traianovski, associate director of founder development at Velocity, said. “Collaborating with student-led groups gives more exposure to the opportunities, and a pathway to make entrepreneurship happen.” 

Each year more than 2,000 students engage with Velocity. Currently, 157 student teams are actively working on bringing their innovative startups to life. These teams come from all faculties and backgrounds that mirror Waterloo’s student community. Velocity supports and guides student founders through the process of creating and developing ideas and building a business. Working on a range of ideas, Socratica members’ creations can develop into startup ideas supported by Velocity. 

With this mural, Velocity’s campus headquarters as a place for students to connect and innovate is strengthened and uplifted. 

“A mural is intended to spark creativity and a collaborative energy within a room,” says Radtina "I hope when people see the mural we created, it fills them with hope, inspiration and motivation to create something of their own.” 

MC 2037 is used for in-person networking events, co-working, and community events. For more information on how to use the space and work with Velocity contact Krysta Traianovski.

This project to build a culture of inclusive innovation is funded by the Government of Canada’s Incremental Project Grant.