The Crossroads
of Art & Design

My art has always been influenced by my work as a designer. I believe there is plenty of overlap between the disciplines of art and design, and nothing demonstrates that more than the murals I created for my city.

Beginning in 2015 I have taken part in the Unexpected event in Fort Smith, Ark. The Unexpected project serves a mission to bring urban and contemporary art to Arkansas through immersive public art experiences. Through the good graces of my then department chair, Don Lee, and others involved in the project I was able to create a special topics: mural painting class. Because of this, I have been able lead groups of students in creating gigantic paintings and I’ve seen some go on and do the same on their own.

The projects and classes were a huge success. Students would help execute one of my designs, learning process, and then execute their own collaborative mural. It was a great experience! As a result, several students have gone on to graduate and paint murals of their own using the class experience and turning it into extra income. Pretty neat.

Adventures in Oversized Public Art

So far I’ve been privileged to create four murals downtown. I kicked it all off in 2015 with a 22×40 ft mural celebrating Gutenberg and the printing press. In 2016 the class and I painted a gigantic mural of local music pioneer Alphonso Trent. In addition, the summer of 2017 I painted four sides of a double decker bus at the West End Park. And as of September 2017, the outside portion of a indoor/outdoor mural for First National Bank of Fort Smith.

Art & Challenge

Every mural comes with its own set of challenges, and every challenge is a teachable moment. Just getting the image projected on the wall can be a puzzle. The Gutenberg mural had to be projected at an extreme angle, and Adobe Photoshop had to be used to correct the keystone angle. As a result, the students are able to resolve their own artistic challenges. For example, when the 2015 class found their space too short to project, they split the image and used two stacked projectors. Consequently, they were able to cut projection time in half. Great solution.

So You Say You Want a Mural

Ultimately this experience has really turned me on to creating oversized public art. Murals can really enhance your space, indoors or out, They can attract customers, or make a statement. If you would like a mural, feel free to contact me. We can discuss the process, fees, and supplies. You can be on your way to becoming the talk of the town, in a good way.