Mary Washington’s walls are Kirkwood Hall’s canvas

By ELLA CORDLE

Opinion Editor

Recently, in Building Two of the UMW Apartments, plumbers cut a large hole in the bathroom ceiling to fix a leak. The result was a functioning pipe and a ghastly, nearly foot-wide opening above the toilet. A work order was placed, and the hole required extensive repairs. A large piece of drywall was cut to size and inserted over the hole, held in place by large amounts of joint-compound mud.

The entire area was re-mudded several times over the next few days, building up the surface and letting it dry and repeating the process until it could be sanded, primed and painted. The end result left the ceiling looking better than it has in years.

That lengthy process is an everyday event for UMW’s Lead Carpenter and student Paint Crew Supervisor Kirkwood Hall. His main job is to maintain the UMW campus, preserving each and every room that requires attention, and passing on his trade to students.

Having been open for over 100 years, many aspects of UMW are considered historic. Several buildings on campus feature particular quirks that make repairs challenging, such as plaster molding. Molding refers to sculpted decorative details around the corners of walls, which in this case is constructed from plaster.

Last March, Hall was requested to repair a large hole in the main entrance of Ball Hall, which was built in 1935. The process involved tediously sculpting the plaster manually, building it up to match the original work.

“The important part was fixing the molding without having to tear it out completely,” said Hall.

The entire room has the plaster molding, however. Tearing it out of one area, no matter how well it was fixed afterwards, would have ruined the effect of the space, which was clearly built with beauty in mind, between the skylight and the spiral staircase.

Hall spent approximately two weeks in Ball Hall, sculpting the material, letting it dry and coming back the next day to do it all again. The end result was something that blends in with the original work.

“I’d rather repair it in the way that it was built, which is kind of a historic preservation,” he said.

Robyn Jackson, archivist and data analyst for Facilities Operations on the UMW campus, spoke about the value of the kind of work done by Hall:

“Historical preservation is an important consideration for Facilities Operations […] Whenever possible, we aim to use materials and methods that match the original design,” Jackson said.

“Kirkwood’s deep knowledge of historic painting and finishing techniques further enhances the quality of preservation work, making him an invaluable contributor to the university’s long-term stewardship of its architectural heritage,” said Jackson.

Hall first began at UMW in 2018 as a carpenter. Having lived in Fredericksburg on and off for the last 28 years, he was aware that UMW was a good landing spot.

“I decided I needed a real change,” Hall said. “So I applied for a job. I got it. I figured it’d be a good place to grow and maybe take classes.”

Hall is a student at UMW as well as an employee, taking courses in business management part-time.

He began taking trade classes at 15, inspired by his father, a carpenter, and his uncle, a bricklayer.

Since then, he has accrued various skills in the trades wherever he goes.

Hall began painting while working for a realtor in downtown Fredericksburg. He learned his plaster work from Michael Dean, an Adjunct Professor of Studio Art at UMW who’s also a seventh-generation plasterer.

However, out of all the work Hall does, his passion lies with supervising the student paint crew.

“I’m passing on a trade,” Hall said. “Not just the painting part, but taking pride in what you do, leaving a space cleaner than you found it.”

“He brings a lot of patience and understanding that is really important, especially when working with students,” said Sarah Rudd, a senior art history and English double major.

Rudd began working on the student paint crew in May, working full-time over the summer and continuing part-time during the academic year.

“Especially this semester we’ve gotten a lot of one-on-one advice and training, where he really spends time with us and teaches us,” she said. “Kirkwood is really great.”

The student paint crew is currently working to repaint the main corridors of Woodard Hall, which haven’t had a refresh in about a decade.

“The University of Mary Washington is my community,” Hall said. “I don’t just work here, I live here. I take great pride in what I do here.”