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Home - Art
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Mural Madness
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Benson Mural Project aims to aid community
by Sally Deskins
A year ago, seven people gathered with the common purpose of transforming a portion of Benson’s environment through creative neighborhood projects. After much brainstorming they settled on a public art venture in the form of a mural project. The seven represented Leadership Omaha Class 31, itself a project of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
“We wanted something that would not only add beautification to the area and bring pride to area residents, but also give something back to local business owners who are socially minded and have continually impacted the area through their active community presence,” said group member Julie DeWitt. She is director of client development at Kolen Jessen P.C.
Class 31 also includes artist Watie White, Shari Theer of Gallup, Russ Collins of Blue Cross Blue Shield, Mo Doghman of OPPD, Jay Paleu of DLR Group and Pat Crisler of Metropolitan Community College. Connie Spellman, director of Omaha by Design, was recruited to assess neighborhood options.
Since the Benson neighborhood is currently improving the streetscape of Maple Street with the Benson-Ames Alliance, partnerships were formed with the Alliance, the Benson Business Association, Omaha By Design and Art Omaha.
“We chose Benson because the business owners and residents are dedicated to seeing the neighborhood grow and thrive and that energy was really appealing to us,” said mural artist White. “Benson has become a destination for art and music lovers, so a project involving current and emerging artists seemed fitting for this area in particular.”
To broaden the impact, the group wanted to add a mentoring element for student artists in the area.
“We really wanted to have the opportunity to partner one-on-one with students,” said White, who worked with Benson High School student Andrew Forsman on the mural behind the Pizza Shoppe. “When students create something of this stature and see the end result, it gives them something to be proud of, and in this case, be proud of for years to come.”
White selected Forsman from among approximately 12 Benson High School artist applicants to create the mural he refers to as “Homer at the Pizza Shoppe.”
Amy Ryan, owner of the Pizza Shoppe, met with White and Forsman to develop the design, inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey. Forsman had just read the classic in school. The result is a colossal wooden ship with a bright red mainsail amongst lively cobalt ocean waves. Three figures reach for help from the water, seven row the boat, a man is seemingly tied to the mast, a luminous red-hair womanly bodice paves the way (modeled after Ryan). A beautiful blond girl, modeled after White’s daughter, sits in the foreground. Other models serving as inspiration included White’s son, some passers-by, and Pizza Shoppe employees.
Similarly, artist Renee Ledesma Hoover’s mural on the back wall of Jane’s Market was a community endeavor. She mentors Benson High School student Jasmine Ruch. They collaborated on a design with a woman, suggestive of Mother Nature as the trunk of a blossoming tree. Set against a pale blue sky, the tree is surrounded by intricately painted flowers, butterflies and abstract motif.
“I selected Jasmine for her use of color and her style. When I first met her she was very shy but I could tell right away that we would get along great,” said Ledesma Hoover. “She was used to working in pencil and was a little nervous about painting, but over the five weeks it took us to finish the mural, I got to see her confidence and skill just blossom. She did an amazing job.”
Members of the original group helped finish the mural, and received much neighborly encouragement from casual observers.
These two murals are the beginning of the project. The group plans to paint another series of murals in Benson next year. One of the artist duos already selected, painter Bill Hoover and Benson High School student Brandon Moore, will create a mural location to be announced in early 2010. At the same time, DeWitt will announce other participating professional artists, along with a call for students to area high schools and colleges.
In years to come, this group from Leadership Omaha Class 31 hopes to go into other area neighborhoods. Leadership Omaha graduates don’t usually return to their projects after commencement, said DeWitt, “but we are so excited about our project and its impact that we don’t plan on ending it anytime soon.”
For more information on Leadership Omaha, go to the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce website at omahachamber.org. For more information on the Benson Mural Project, visit bensonbeat.com.
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