Walking down Euclid Avenue on a Saturday night, partygoers often see a long line of students walking in and out of “Big Red,” a house that has for many years been campus-famous for throwing huge house parties.

Inside the hallowed halls of “Big Red”, however, is a recently added treat: a mural, painted by Ben Tupper, the landlord of the house. The mural immortalizes famous Syracuse alumni who have visited the place in the past.

The mural is entirely based around events that occurred within the confines of the house since the time it was built, Tupper, a ’91 Syracuse University alumnus said. Pieces of history are depicted on the walls of the house’s sprawling, triple-layered stairwell. Each corner shows an exciting event that occurred since the house’s construction.

This is just one of many projects that Tupper has done, and is planning to do, in the nearly two-dozen houses he owns around campus. Tupper partners with SU students and faculty to create large and small scale art pieces for his properties.

“I put them in 20 houses, in places you wouldn’t expect — corners with smudged paint, chipped paint,” Tupper said of the smaller pieces. “I take an ugly spot and beautify it.”

Tupper estimated that at least 15,000 to 25,000 people have walked through the doorways of the house that is the site of his most-recent mural. Among the thousands was Carmelo Anthony, who once partied in “Big Red’s” attic.

Lou Reed lived in one of the houses Tupper’s father owned on Ackerman. Donovan McNabb lived in a summer sublet on Livingston during his time at SU.

It is “fun little stories like these” that Tupper translated into the mural.

“I’ve always been a person who really loves history, not just in an abstract way. I want to do my part to share all of these great stories with people,” he said. “It’s not just another house on Ackerman. I want them to know something crazy funny happened at that house.”

The mural was painted at 516 Euclid this past summer. The current residents, junior environmental engineering major Philip Wong and junior music major Matt Berger, said it came as a pleasant surprise.

“We had no idea it was coming,” Berger said. “But when most people come in the house, it’s the first thing you notice.”

Wong said guests really enjoyed the mural inside his house.

Joey Sims, a sophomore physics major, has gone to parties at 516 Euclid.

“It’s a really awesome place,” Sims said. In regards to the mural, he said “There’s no avoiding it — it’s pretty dope.”

Tupper drew inspiration for the murals from his days as a student at SU. As a student, he and his fellow classmates held political protests on the quad against apartheid in South Africa. To draw attention, they drew chalk murals on the walkways in front of Hendricks’ Chapel.

Tupper’s political interests led him to Baton Rouge following his graduation in 1991, where he experienced a “wealth of culture.” While in Baton Rouge, he took interest in murals, inspired by the abundance of wall art in nearby New Orleans.

When Tupper later returned to Syracuse, he was offered his family’s properties and landlord business by his father, Joseph Tupper, a biology professor at Syracuse University.

“Originally I said ‘hell no, I don’t want to be a landlord.’ You know, everyone hates landlords, I didn’t want to be ‘the man,’” Tupper said. “That’s not who I am.”

But Tupper eventually changed his mind and took over the business in 1996. But he vowed not to be the stereotypical landlord, saying that he has approached the job “not with the mindset of making tons of money but with the mindset that being a student is about having lots of fun and doing dumb stuff.”

Eighteen years later, Tupper owns and operates numerous houses, including 516 Euclid. Right now, Tupper and student workers have completed two full hallway murals at “Big Red,” and have another one in the design phase.

Tupper cites Banksy, the world-renowned British street artist, as a source of inspiration for a lot of his work. Tupper said he has another two projects in the works, not pertaining to mural art.

Overall, Tupper said he hopes that students enjoy their time at SU, but also reflect on the past.

“Syracuse is a snowy, grey place. I want to brighten it up with some colors and some history,” Tupper said. “I have done murals since I was a teen with a can of spray paint. Now I’m a 44-year-old man that still loves to get his message out visually.”

Published on February 17, 2014 at 11:35 pm

Contact Madysan: mgfoltz@syr.edu | @madysangabriele