PUBLIC ART

A mural designed by David Lowenstein (Lawrence) and painted in collaboration with Debbie Wagner (Bennington); for the wall behind the outdoor stage at Campbell Plaza, 100 Block of South Santa Fe. A project of the Smoky Hill River Festival with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Artist Statement: Created for the wall behind the outdoor stage at Campbell Plaza, this design was developed around the ideas of mentorship and creative exploration. The composition is divided into a brightly lit and colorful 'center stage' and shadowed more monochromatic areas 'off stage - waiting in the wings.' Framing the mural on the left and right represents theater curtains. The young boy on the right and girl on the left seated in chairs are adapted from the relief above the entryway to Lincoln School. They are mentored/inspired/guided by teachers who pass along tools to help them along as they develop their art. Other figures walking along high wires of artistic exploration are accompanying these figures waiting in the wings. At the edge of the light and shadowed areas of the design, there appear new much larger representations of the boy and girl as they cross over onto the lit 'stage' with tools of self-expression. Most of these figures are based on Salina folk who posed for the mural The center 'stage' section of the mural is based on a detail of a tile relief on the United Building designed by Charles Shaver. Meant to convey a sense of dynamic beauty and possibility, the large shapes of the tilework are divided by emanating rings of light that originate from the act of artistic creation within the boy and girl. Behind and above the tilework are references to the city waterworks and one of Salina's majestic grain elevators.