Painted during the summer of 2020 on the north side of the historic Majestic Theatre in Wayne, NE, this mural adapts drive-in movie marquees to celebrate important aspects of the Wayne community. From the beloved Chicken Show to Wayne State’s Willow Bowl and the downtown staple Aqua Pop, community, culture, art, nature, history and pride each have their own lushly illuminated marquee. Other forms of illumination included are constellations (some real and others imagined), the Neowise Comet (that was visible in the summer sky), a drive-in movie screen and a blanket of fireflies stretching to the horizon. The mural was created in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, which meant that community meetings to develop the mural’s themes had to be held on Zoom, while painting, usually with many volunteers, was done by myself.
The Pen is Mightier than the Tweet
This Machine Stops Fascists, Builds Trust and Offers Hope
Celebrate People's History!
It was super exciting to receive the new edition of Celebrate People’s History in the mail today. Published by the Feminist Press, edited by Josh MacPhee with forewords by Charlene Carruthers and Rebecca Solnit, this remarkable expanded volume comes at the perfect moment. And, it includes five posters (pictured below) from the Kansas People’s History Project designed by Lana Grove, Emi Gennis, Cheyenne Garrison, Nedra Bonds and me Dave.
No DAPL
Defunct Monument IV: Nationalism
No Masks!
This COVID Cowboy’s advice, “No Masks!”
It can and has happened here
We're not all in this together
We’re not all in this together. Many are dying or losing loved ones, while others go on seemingly unaffected or complaining about how recent events have interfered with their freedom to do whatever they want.
Tribute to John Prine
The beloved singer-songwriter John Prine died on April 7th from complications related to COVID-19. I knew and admired his music since I can remember. My folks played his records when I was a kid and I went to see him whenever I could. The last time was in Salina, KS in 2017. He was great. Like many I suppose, his words echo through my life in good times and bad. I’ve been inspired to create posters based on his songs, and have fallen in love to his offbeat rhymes. This tribute is based on a 1970’s photo of John in front of a bunch of orphaned Bob’s Big Boy figurines. I adapted it to hint at Roger Ebert’s nickname for Prine, the “Singing Mailman,” and added an old bottle of Orange Crush to reference the line, “I’m sitting on the front steps drinking Orange Crush, wondering if it’s possible if I could still blush,” from his song, “The Sins of Memphisto.”
If you want to see it, come over to East Lawrence and find the Turnhalle. It’s on the alley-side facing east.
We March!
Langston Hughes sitting against St. Luke AME church in Lawrence, KS (detail of 2006 mural in Hobbs Park)
Youth by Langston Hughes
We have tomorrow Bright before us Like a flame.
Yesterday a night-gone thing. A sun-down name.
And dawn-today Broad arch above the road we came.
We March!
Capitalism is the crisis
Two unlikely friends have set up a mutual aid network for all the creatures living along the Burroughs Creek Trail.
Anywhere (is better than here)
Signs to a way forward in this disorienting moment point in many directions, but none will lead me back in time to the way things used to be.
You can get a free download of this at Justseeds and/or get a signed copy in my website shop.
Alone Together
Love from 6 feet away
Yesterday while walking near KU, I saw that the old “love” garage had been resurrected, albeit with a timely message about physical distancing. The story goes that in 2007 a KU student tagged the garage with the word ‘love’ in simple black script, and it quickly became a hotspot for romantic photos. Six years later, it disappeared and in its place was a new message, “Risk for Adventure.” Reaction to the change, led to an article in the paper that got a lot of attention, so much that it inspired youth artists from VanGo to restore the original “love.” That lasted a couple of years, but by 2015 it was gone too and the garage has been plain white - until yesterday…;)
Before…
The altered section of the Hobbs Park mural at 11th and Delaware streets on Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
Kindness, Compassion and Mutual Aid Will Get Us Through
by Kim Callahan for the Lawrence Journal-World
A section of the mural on the stadium at Hobbs Park, at 11th and Delaware streets, has been vandalized again — this time to reflect a hopeful message during the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The signs in the image formerly said “We demand equal rights,” “Food not bombs” and “Save the tree.” They now say “Kindness, compassion,” “And mutual aid” “Will get us through.” Painted by Dave Loewenstein and some 30 helpers, the mural, called “The East Lawrence Waltz,” was unveiled at Hobbs Park in 2004. The mural was designed to capture the spirit of the East Lawrence community.
Contacted by the Journal-World Wednesday, Loewenstein said he had seen the altered image, but he was not too concerned about it. “That mural has always seemed like it had a mind of its own, but considering the challenges we are facing and the positive message, I’d just (as soon) leave it as is for a while,” he said.
The mural was vandalized in 2016 when one of the signs was made to say “Stop Trump.” In that instance, a police report was filed, but the city never determined who had vandalized the mural or who had restored it to its original state. The City of Lawrence owns the mural and Loewenstein maintains the copyright.
We Are
Feel free to print, post and share. -Dave
At the end of the day
A new site-specific installation in the Spiva Art Gallery at Missouri Southern University in Joplin, Missouri. I will be giving an artist talk on February 11 and the show continues until February 18.
We Are The Wetlands - Poster Project
These posters were just completed by students in the Environmental Issues of the Wakarusa Wetlands class that I have been co-teaching at Haskell Indian Nations University with Jay T. Johnson, Joseph P. Brewer and Cody Marshall. Inspired by the decades long struggle to protect the Wakarusa Wetlands from the now built K-10 trafficway, students from both Haskell and KU worked in pairs to imagine how to re-engage the Lawrence community with the continued challenges facing this ecosystem and the cultural life which it embodies.
The posters will be on view at the Spencer Museum of Art in November and are available as free downloads here.
The Art of Sammy Landers
(This essay originally appeared on the Mid-America Mural Project blog in 2013.
There is one more story (and one more mural) to share about our project in Arkadelphia. Early during our visit there, while we were still trying to untangle the mysteries of what kudzu covered beasts lurked behind our temporary home, and the many shaded meanings embodied in the common phrase ‘bless your heart,’ we were introduced to the remarkable artwork of Sammy Landers. Jane Lucas, Executive Director of Group Living Inc., took us on a tour of Landers' work displayed downtown, including a quick stop to meet the artist himself and a peek at an archive of his drawings from the last twenty years.
Sammy Landers
Sammy, who has autism, has been a client at Group Living and the Arkadelphia Human Development Center for most of his life. He doesn't like to talk much so Mariela Crockett, who works with Sammy, was kind enough to share some of his background. She said that Sammy came to Arkadelphia as a teenager from his home in Hughes, Arkansas. While he still had family there, Sammy would make periodic visits home, returning with incredible drawings that people started to take notice of.
Landers’ best-known works are instantly recognizable, boldly stylized, and beautifully colored drawings that defy easy categorization. Often depicting pairs of fantastic figures with symmetrical features and elaborate outfits, they look at once like cousins to Transformers and iconic figures from an unknown ancient culture. After a 1997 tornado partially destroyed the apartment he was living in, the figures pretty much disappeared and he became focused on highly detailed renderings of buildings.
Made on common sketch-pad paper, his drawings are tightly rendered using drafting tools, colored with carefully applied layers of crayon and then scrapped through to create deep and luminous textures. Viewing dozens of Sammy’s drawings laid out next to each other in the Group Living offices, I started to see the many characters as the cast of a grand costume drama, maybe a fable, where a young boy and girl encounter a series of trials along an epic journey.
I was inspired by Sammy’s work and I wondered how we might shine a light on it for the broader community to enjoy. During our stay, I talked with Jane and Mariela about how to do this. Sammy had had exhibitions and many people owned his drawings, but there were many more who were unaware of his art. What if we were to reproduce one of his drawings as a small mural outside of his studio on Main Street, I asked. Would he like that? Yes! he would be thrilled, they said.
It was difficult for us to decide which drawing to recreate. There were hundreds, including his characteristic figures, buildings, and even a few landscapes with ‘okra trees’ as they’ve come to be known. In the end, we chose a drawing hanging in the Group Living offices that showed a family of four figures as opposed to his usual pairs, including one with an umbrella that people have come to refer to as Sammy’s “Mary Poppins.” This drawing also had an uncharacteristically well-developed background made from an interlaced pattern of colored shapes – perfect for a mural.
As the outline of the mural started to go up, we asked Sammy to come out and have a look. He recognized it immediately as his work and said emphatically “Keep it there.” With that clear approval, we went into overdrive to finish it in the day and a half we had left in town.
Long story short, Arkadelphia has two new murals, one a community-wide project and the other, just down the street, in appreciation of the great Sammy Landers.
