This gallery is under construction as of Sunday, May 15, 2010.
More will follow as time permits.

Tonkawa, OK, was recently chosen as the town in Oklahoma to receive a grant from Mid-America Arts Alliance of Kansas City, MO, to produce a mural depicting the past and present life of this rural Oklahoma town.

You can visit the MAAA website at http://www.maaa.org/SiteResources/Data/Templates/t1.asp?docid=514&DocName=HOME

The lead artist on this project is mural painter Dave Loewenstein, out of Lawrence, KS. Please visit his web sight http://loewensteinmuraljournal.blogspot.com/ for more information on this project and others he has been involved in.

Dave is being assisted by two other artists, Amber Hanson and Nicholas Ward, also of Lawrence, KS.
Please visit their website at http://www.myspace.com/kansasmuralists

The project is also being followed by another website, http://theruralsite.blogspot.com/ The Art of the Rural.

It is truly amazing to see what Dave and his assistants, Amber and Nicholas have designed and are now starting to paint. We feel so fortunate to have received the grant and to have such talented artists making it.


The following is a press release from MAAA

Overview

Community-based public art is a familiar and well documented field. Like community-based theater, community-based public art seeks to develop meaningful and high quality works through a collaborative process driven by local people often with the guidance and technical assistance of professional artists. In an effort to spark this kind of work in our region, Mid-America Arts Alliance (MAAA)—in partnership with the Kansas Arts Commission and the Oklahoma Arts Council—will support two interrelated community-based mural projects, one in Kansas and the other in Oklahoma. These projects will both be happening in 2010 and will give residents direct hands–on experience in the research, design, and execution of major public artworks for their communities.

In addition, MAAA is funding one to two mural assistant positions in each state. Artists chosen to be mural assistants will work with lead artist Dave Loewenstein from the earliest stages of the projects through to their completion, and will be introduced to all of the skills used to shape successful community murals.

Both projects and what may become a collaboration between the two will be carefully documented in video, audio, and still photography with the intention of producing a community-mural manual and short documentary film. Lead artist Loewenstein will also regularly post updates, photos, and video to a blog dedicated to the mural projects so that students and others can follow each mural's progress.