Philly mural artist is bringing back the golden days of Dunder Mifflin. That’s what she said.
Kala Hagopian, who studied at PAFA, has been commissioned to paint a mural of "The Office" that will go up on Scranton's Lackawanna Avenue.
A stapler in molded jello. Actor Steve Carell as Michael Scott, gazing impassively over his “World’s Best Boss” mug. And of course, “That’s what she said.”
These are some of the images, catchphrases, and faces set to adorn a huge mural in downtown Scranton dedicated to The Office, the beloved NBC sitcom whose characters toiled and tussled at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in the northeastern Pennsylvania city.
Artist Kala Hagopian is currently hand painting individual sections of the massive artwork in her West Philadelphia studio and will attach them to the side of a Lackawanna Avenue building next summer. Measuring 86 feet wide and 27 feet high, the mural will depict 17 characters from the show in addition to Scranton’s landmark “Electric City” sign.
Other references will include a pretzel (alluding to Dunder Mifflin’s annual Pretzel Day) and “Identity theft is not a joke, Jim!”, which Dwight Schrute splutters in a celebrated April 2007 episode after his rival Jim Halpert comes to work dressed as him.
“My hope is that it’ll act as a historical portal that pays homage to the ‘golden days’ of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company,” said Hagopian, who spent many hours immersing herself in the series while designing the mural. “I wanted to encompass how The Office brilliantly depicts regular people doing regular things, and the process of finding humor, purpose, and beauty in seemingly mediocre life.”
The mural will be the fourth put up by the Scranton Tomorrow economic development organization in recent years to beautify the city’s historic downtown and attract visitors.
Despite having broadcast its finale in 2013, the series remains a top driver of tourist interest in Scranton, said Curt Camoni, executive director of the Lackawanna County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Fans can take The Office self-guided tours and visit locales from the show, like the real-life Poor Richard’s pub.
“It’s the number-one most Googled item relating to our tourism,” said Camoni, whose organization is helping fund the mural, along with NBC/Peacock and other donors. “While people are looking online or they come here to see something about The Office, that mural included, we’re happy to show them everything else that we have to offer.”
The project is something of a departure for Hagopian, whose recent works have typically featured lush, brightly colored plants and animals, rather than pop culture icons.
But Rose Randazzo, who heads Scranton Tomorrow’s Mural Arts Program, became fascinated by Hagopian’s wall painting at the former Mercantile Library on Chestnut Street — a collage of book spines, photo-realistic pedestrians, and giant flowers — and knew she would be perfect for the job.
“She’s not only an excellent mural artist, but she’s a fabulous portrait artist, and you needed that combination to do something like this,” Randazzo said.
A native of Vermont, Hagopian studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 2009. Inspired by the vigorous culture of public art in Philadelphia, which has the most public murals of any U.S. city, she decided to stay and become a muralist.
Using tiny brushes, she paints detailed, highly rendered, realistic imagery against ornate, colorful patterned backgrounds. She has made murals for schools, nonprofits, a Mummers brigade, a suicide awareness initiative, supermarkets, and many other clients — sometimes in partnership with the city’s famed Mural Arts Program.
Since 2018 she has focused on ecologically themed pieces that aim to educate the public about the natural world and environmental degradation. Early on she painted some for free, occasionally while carrying her infant son Kai on her back, but now her schedule is booked with paid commissions for Eco Murals, she said.
They range from mini-murals of a single creature — a sea turtle on the wall of deli, a honey bee outside a music therapy center — to complex endeavors like her recent Wild Medicine project, which produced murals, coloring books, and student workshops on the uses of medicinal plants.
“I’m so blessed to do this every day,” Hagopian said. “My world is beautiful and full of passion and joy throughout my day-to-day experience. I support myself and my son doing what I love, and I feel so lucky to do that.”