The Great
Mural Wall of Topeka
A
Project of the Chesney Park Neighborhood Improvement Association
The
Great Mural Wall of Topeka is a collaborative project of the Chesney Park
Neighborhood NIA and the City of Topeka Water Department. Inspired by the Great
Wall of Los Angeles led by artist Judy Baca and SPARC, the GMWT partners with
neighborhoods, schools and community groups to create murals that highlight
People’s History and community aspirations.
Special
Thanks:
David
Leamon
Tom
Benaka
Frank
Hoge
Topeka
Water Department
Chesney
Park NIA
2007
Lead
Artist - Dave Loewenstein
Assistant
- Camille Bachand
With
help from Chesney Park mural design team and many neighborhood volunteers.
Supported
by the Chesney Park Action Team
Weed
and Seed Program
Kansas
Arts Commission
In
this the first panel on the Great Mural Wall, lead artist Dave Loewenstein
worked with community members to think about people and events that had had
great positive impact on the neighborhood but perhaps were not widely
known. Grant Cushinberry was the
unanimous choice. Cushinberry was revered in Chesney Park for his humanitarianism
, generosity and mentoring. He began the neighborhood associationand was known
for fixing toys for kids out of his garage, mentoring young people, maintaining
a community and other large-hearted activities. Cushinberry points directs
viewers around the corner to the accompanying panel which envisions neighbors
enacting their aspirations in projects that include a community garden and
skateboard ramp. Loewenstein recounted taking an initial sketch of the mural to
Cushinberry, explaining that since he had contributed so much to the health and
unique energy of Chesney Park, it only made sense to feature his large,
inspiring presence at the center of the mural. Cushinberry's response when
shown the rendering was a sly smile as he said, "It's about time."
The neighborhood agreed.
©
D. Loewenstein 2007
A History of
Central Park
2008
Lead
Artist - Dave Loewenstein
Assisted
by - KT Walsh and Natalie Anne Dye
With
help from Kay Conn and neighborhood volunteers.
Supported
by the Chesney Park Action Team,
Weed
and Seed
Kansas
Arts Commission
Arts
Connect
In
1899, the land that would become Topeka’s Central Park was sold to the city by
Dr. John McClintock (pictured on the far left) for one dollar. Esteemed
landscape architect J. Woodward Manning (pictured next to McClintock) designed
a public space inspired by his hero Frederic Law Olmsted (designer of New
York’s Central Park) that brought nature into the city and was accessible to
all citizens. Hands of a viewer who stands outside of the mural hold and
compare postcards of the park - one on the left from 1901, the one on the right
from 2008. The two postcards portray the evolution of Central Park, from its
beginnings as the “gem in Topeka,” to the destruction of the 1966 tornado, to
its subsequent revitalization. Longtime resident and local historian Kay Conn provided
the historical record and photographs as research for the mural and she is
included in the mural (right center with notebook) documenting the scene.
©
D. Loewenstein 2008
2008
Lead
Artist - Dave Loewenstein
Assisted
by - KT Walsh and Julie Ferriera
With
help from Charlotte Noland and community volunteers.
Supported
by the Chesney Park Action Team,
Kansas
Arts Commission
Many
elders in Topeka still remember the grandeur and excitement of the Kansas Free
Fair, which took place in the first half of the 20th century on the grounds of
what is now the Expo Centre – located across the street from the mural itself. Vestiges
of it still exist in the gate at the corner of 17th & Topeka
Blvd. Preserving those memories in giant mason jars was the clever theme for
this panel on the Great Mural Wall. Within the jars we see the 1947 “Battle in
Butter” which references the presidential race that pitted Democrat Harry S.
Truman vs. Republican Thomas Dewey along with more traditional fare. During the
planning of the Free Fair panel, local resident Charlotte Noland shared her
memories as a young woman attending the fair and even acting in the 1954 Kansas
Centennial pageant.
©
D. Loewenstein 2008
2009
Lead
Artist - Dave Loewenstein
Assisted
by - KT Walsh and in collaboration with Topeka High School teacher Marty
Moreno’s advanced art class
Supported
by the Chesney Park Action Team
For
this dynamic mural, Topeka High School students examined the legacy of the
historic Brown v. Board decision, which outlawed racial segregation in public
schools, and then considered solutions to confronting and overcoming
stereotypes and prejudice in their own lives today. Students developed the idea
of the road as a metaphor to look back and forward through history. In the rear view mirror we see one of the
Brown v. Board plaintiffs on the steps of U.S. Supreme Court. Ahead on the
road, students (modeled by design team members) turn the page of history that
had been dominated by the notion of separate but equal. Paper cutouts unfolding
across the wall represent stereotypes. One student with the aid of another is
able to break out of the stereotype and become fully realized.
©
D. Loewenstein 2009
2009
Lead
Artist - KT Walsh
Assisted
by - Ashley Jane Laird
With
support from community volunteers
This
whimsical mural celebrates the Elmhurst Neighborhood’s 100th
anniversary, including many of the people and places that make it a vibrant and
unique place. From the Topeka Shawnee County Public Library to the floating
typewriter of the beloved columnist known as “Peggy of the Flint Hills,” the
mural juxtaposes historical images with glimpses of current neighborhood goings
on including local kids at play and wildlife.
©
K.T. Walsh 2009
Ad Terra per
Agilitas
2010
Lead
Artist - KT Walsh
Assisted
by - Ashley Jane Laird
With
help from neighborhood volunteers
Supported
by an anonymous donor
The
Latin title translates into roughly “Of the earth with agility.” At a time when
the Kansas Legislature was considering the removal of protections for many
endangered species in the state, this mural highlights animals in need of our
care. Included are the lesser prairie chicken,
red belly snake, flying squirrel, and ornate box turtle among others. The mural
was created with the Topeka arts collaborative Chords and Oil, and reflects the
desire of artists and neighborhood residents to connect with the local
environment. It addresses the impact we have on the places we inhabit by
showcasing threatened species of northeast Kansas, framed by sources of
pollution on one end, and the road to a more sustainable future on the other.
©
K.T. Walsh 2010
Reanimating
the Arts in Topeka
2011
Lead
Artist - Ashley Jane Laird
Assisted
by - Cicelia Ross Gotta and Dave Loewenstein
With
generous guidance and assistance from Chords and Oil and community volunteers
Supported
by the Chesney Park Action Team
Following
the dismantling of the Kansas Arts Commission in 2010, artist Ashley Laird and
a team of community volunteers designed and painted this energized homage to
Topeka’s creative spirit. With both recognizable and lesser-known references to
Topeka artists and artworks, this mural celebrates the heritage and continued
vitality of Topeka’s creative community. Animating the beloved playground
sculptures in Gage Park and Truck-Henge, Topeka drummers, John Brown gestures
from the left while a figure from Aaron Douglass’s mural gestures from the
right The design also explores the interweaving of molecular forces and
synapses as a metaphor for the contagious spreading of art. As Topeka reflects
on its rich history and continues to cultivate art, the desire to create
becomes more activated and alive.
©
A. Laird 2011
Kansas Women
Work for Justice
2014
Lead
Artist - Ashley Jane Laird
Assistant
- Catherine Hart
With
the help of many community volunteers
Supported
by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission and many generous individual
donors
Here
on the corner of 20th & Fillmore, this mural depicts three
interconnected generations of Kansas women who have all worked tirelessly for
social justice. On the left, the grandmother is symbolized by the artist
Grandma Layton from Wellsville. She is the giver of wisdom, keeper of history
and close observer of the world around her. In the center, at the corner, is a
symbolic representation of a Kansas mother. Her energy connects the elders to
the youth. At the right, her children
(who are participants in our project from the Chesney Park Neighborhood) are
challenged by contemporary struggles and strive (with a look back at history
through a telescope) to create the more equitable and just world that their parents
and grandparents only dreamed of.
A
ribbon of knowledge and heritage binds these figures together. Within it we see
women who have inspired us like, Wellsville artist, Elizabeth ‘Grandma’ Layton,
Lutie A. Lytle, Potawatomi Chairwoman Minnie Evans, Gloria Corona, State
Representative Ponka-We Victors, artist Nedra Bonds and civil rights activist
Stephanie Mott.
©
A. Laird 2014
How Topeka
Got its Name
2015
Lead
Artist - Dave Loewenstein
Assisted
by - Ashley Russell, Jimm Goodtracks and neighborhood volunteers
How
did Topeka get its name? This is the central question and theme of this panel
on the Great Mural Wall. The design focuses on stories, some true and others
more like urban folklore, that illustrate what the word Topeka means and how it
was chosen for what we now know as our state capital. At the center of the
mural, Mary an Ioway Tribe elder describes to her grandson and great grand
daughter the story of Topeka (Dópik’è). She gestures to the place along the
Kansas River where many tribes dug for what are commonly known as prairie
potatoes, or in Latin Psoralea esculenta. Encircling them is a woven braid of the ‘potatoes’ that illuminate the
sky. To the right, we see students watching a film in class that perpetuates
the common myth that Topeka refers to an Indian looking down to find a hole in
his shoe and saying, “Toe peek ah.” And then in a separate panel further to the
right, signs are stacked up on signposts indicating the many places and peoples
associated with Topeka and where they are now. To the left of center, colonists
and explorers roll into the scene laying down the gridwork of progress and
muting the heritage of traditional knowledge symbolized by the wild prairie
potato. The progress is challenged by a herd of bison that block their path. (we
know how that story ended). Finally on the far left, the Psoralea esculenta,
Do, or Tipsin is depicted in its full glory with the many names it is known by
encircling it.
© D.
Loewenstein 2015
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