WATERLOO, Ontario—In mid-October, hundreds of eyecare professionals, researchers, students and industry executives helped to create a mural at the American Academy of Optometry meeting in Chicago as part of a celebration of the launch of the Centre for Ocular Research & Education (CORE). Formerly known as the Centre for Contact Lens Research (CCLR), CORE selected a new name in an effort to better reflect the organization’s evolved focus on advanced biosciences, clinical research and education, according to an announcement.

At a celebration earlier this month, the massive mural was unveiled and permanently installed at the University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry & Vision Science. Titled Collected Insight, the 12-foot x 8-foot acrylic mural depicts the complexity and wonder of the eye and vision. The mural is hung in the newest wing of the School of Optometry & Vision Science, immediately outside its main lecture theatre on the ground floor.

Over the course of three days, Academy 2017 attendees added their own artistic strokes to the massive canvas. Los Angeles-based artist John Park then transformed the cacophony of colors and shapes into the finished piece.

“Reaction to the CORE brand has been universally positive, as it better illustrates how we have broadened and deepened our offerings over the past 30 years, while at the same time advancing contact lens technologies and clinical knowledge,” CORE director Lyndon Jones, PhD, FCOptom, FAAO, FBCLA, said in a statement.

CORE partners with contact lens innovators on programs that include materials formulation, care products, comfort initiatives, myopia control, dry eye, drug delivery, and education for both practitioners and patients. In more recent years, it has established a reputation for working with major and emerging pharmaceutical companies, digital technology giants, and academic institutions that value uncompromising independence and adherence to the highest quality standards.

“The Collected Insight mural and [this] celebration, attended by so many supporters and friends, shine a light on how success hinges on close partnerships. We have been fortunate to match the insights of our 50-person team with many of the world’s most brilliant scientists and clinicians, together achieving what would have once been deemed impossible,” Dr. Jones added.

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CORE Unveils Mural

CORE staff at the celebration of the ‘Collected Insight’ mural installation

CORE Unveils Mural

Stan Woo, director of the School of Optometry & Vision Science, and CORE director Lyndon Jones, PhD, FCOptom, FAAO, FBCLA

CORE Unveils Mural

Guests admire the installation of the 12-foot x 8-foot “Collected Insight” mural in the new wing of the optometry school.

CORE Unveils Mural

Los Angeles artist John Park stands in front of an early version of the mural during the American Academy of Optometry meeting in Chicago in early October.

Vision Source 2017

Optometry students work on the mural during the Academy meeting.

CORE Unveils Mural

Some of the students who participated in the mural project at Academy.

CORE Unveils Mural

The mural begins to take its final shape at Academy.