People of Penn Gets “Facelift”

Posted on January 20, 2026

Have you ever noticed the large scale (12.5 feet tall by 8.5 feet wide) “People of Penn” graphic in the sunshine hallway? It was installed in 2011.

Last year, then Penn Principal Dr. Sean Galiher reached out to the graphic design program about making a second iteration. Graphic design student Morgan Kukla (now a senior) was handpicked for this project due to her outstanding talent, creativity, and artistic ability along with her level of responsibility and attention to detail.

And she absolutely nailed it.

The graphic was installed on Monday, January 19th, 2026 and it looks awesome! 

The installation was overseen by former Penn student Steven Tucker (class of ’09) who now works as a sales project manager at US Signcrafters.

About the Artist:

Name: Morgan Kukla
 
Grade: Senior
 
Plans after high school: Study art education at IUSB
 
About the project: Morgan did all of the work to update the art piece, including taking the photos. She also made it match and compliment the original design without having the original design file which is impressive. 
 

Most challenging part of creating the graphic: Finding people willing to participate knowing their face would be on it and then being able to get a good shot of them. Also making sure I got a good representation of all grades and all different types of people.

Most fun part of creating the graphic: Meeting more people at Penn. I have always been secluded to my own group of friends at Penn and this forced me to put myself out there and meet more people. I even made some new friends because of it!
 
How does it feel to have made this knowing it’ll be a permanent display and will remain at the school long after you graduate? So exciting! It’s definitely something I will remember forever. Since my freshman year, the original graphic has always been my favorite artwork in the halls and it’s been cool to be able to make the new version with my own spin on it knowing it’ll be up there and I was the one who made it.

 

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Last Modified January 20, 2026