The Waco Mural Team

In East Waco, I am joined by an experienced and talented crew. 

Mural Assistant Ashley Laird
Ashley is a muralist and studio artist based in Lawrence, Kansas. She is a veteran of the Mid-America Mural Project having assisted on both the Joplin and Arkadelphia murals. After graduating from Washburn University with a BFA in 2011, Laird has worked on numerous public projects including the Mid-America Mural Project, the 2nd Annual Welling Court Mural Project in Queens, NY, and just returned from Songdo, South Korea where she assisted with a collaborative mural in the city's Central Park titled "Songdo: A City on the Rise." In Topeka, Ashley was lead artist for the latest mural on the Great Mural Wall titled “Reanimating the Arts in Topeka.” Laird’s latest studio work culminated in a solo exhibition, “Turning Back The C(l)ock,” at the Bourgeois Pig in Lawrence, KS, one of the drawings of which was showcased in the exhibition, Backlash! at the Soho20 Gallery in New York City. In March of 2013, Laird spoke about these drawing at the Southern Graphics Conference in Milwaukee. In 2012, Ashley led women and children in a collaborative painting project for Survivor Art Night at the Topeka YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment for which she was honored with the 2012 Arts Advocate Award. Ashley is one of the founders of Chords and Oil art collective in Topeka, KS, a springboard organization for many unique projects from 2009-2010 including a major installation at the city’s public transit hub. Her future projects include mural commissions in South Dakota and Nebraska. Ashley's blog is http://ashleyjanelaird.wordpress.com/

Mural Apprentice Catherine Hart

Catherine has been a maker for as long as she can remember. After years of playing with markers, paper, and clay, she took her first art classes at the age of ten. She began attending an art camp during her summers where she discovered her love of blowing glass. In high school she continued to paint, draw, and blow glass by commuting to a studio in Brooklyn, NY from her hometown of Montclair, NJ. She received her BA from California College of the Arts in 2004. Hart then moved to Austin, TX in 2005 where she ran the local art supply store Jerry's Artarama, expanding her knowledge of all art making materials.  She was the 2011 Artist in Residence at the East Side Glass Studio in Austin,
where she completed her first mural & found a new excitement for large scale work.
You can see more of Catherine's work at https://catherine-hart.squarespace.com/  
                                                

                                                  

Project Coordinator  
Doreen Ravenscroft
Originally from near Chester, England Doreen graduated with an S2 degree in Chemistry from Carlett Park Technical College in Eastham, England in 1962 and was employed thereafter by Unilever in England. In 1976 she moved to the United States with husband William (Bill) Ravenscroft. In 1979 they moved to Waco. Doreen has served on the boards of: Art Center Waco, Waco Women's Symphony Guild, Historic Waco Fort House, Waco Independent School District Foundation, AJ Moore Advisory Board and Community Race Relations Coalition committees. In 1997- 2003 she co-chaired the Open Door Arts Fest, a visual and performing arts festival. She has received many awards including: the 2001 American Fundraising Professionals Volunteer Award of the Year, the 2006 Zambelli Internationale Volunteer of the Year award by the International Festival and Events Association, the 2007 Make a Difference award for the arts in Waco and the Waco Foundation 2011 Ruth and Lawrence McMillan award recognizing visual public art. In 2004 Doreen founded the non-profit organization Waco Cultural Arts Fest, dba Cultural Arts of Waco of which she continues as the president and producer.