Mural Gallery

Listening Back, Dreaming Forward: The Rhythms of Tonkawa
Located at the corner of Main & Grand
Tonkawa, Oklahoma

Lead artist - Dave Loewenstein
Assisted by Amber Hansen and Nicholas Ward
With the support of over one hundred community volunteers

Employing an intensive community-based process, local volunteers teamed up with the visiting artists to research, design, and help paint this sprawling visual poem honoring Tonkawa’s cultural history and dreams of things to come. The resulting mural, divided into five interrelated panels, reflects the community’s continuing dialogue with its past including: the Cherokee Land Run and its effects on the Tonkawa Tribe, current efforts to revitalize downtown, and whimsical visions of future community-building endeavors.

© D. Loewenstein 2010




The Imagineers
Located on the north-facing wall of 304 North Main
Newton, Kansas

Lead artist - Dave Loewenstein
Assisted by Matthew Farley and Erika Nelson
With the support of over two hundred community volunteers

Situated adjacent to Newton’s historic train depot, The Imagineers was designed and painted by a group of committed local volunteers working in collaboration with the visiting artists. The mural’s focus is a group of Newton area residents, gathered around a table, engaged in the process of recalling and re-imagining their community. Using quilts, model railroads, and board games as metaphors to explore their cultural history and manifest new ideas, the figures at the table are surrounded by symbols of Newton and North Newton including references to: Mennonite and Hispanic heritage, wheat farming, and the Chisholm Trail.

© D. Loewenstein 2010




The Butterfly Effect: Dreams Take Flight
Located at the northwest corner of 15th & Main
Joplin, Missouri

Lead Artist – Dave Loewenstein
Assisted by Amber Hansen and Kyle McKenzie
With the support of more than three hundred community volunteers

Two months after an EF-5 tornado devastated nearly one third of the city, Joplin residents came together to create this magical evocation of a community rebuilding, remembering, and looking forward. Inspired by the metamorphosis of butterflies, the poetry of Langston Hughes, and the capacity for renewal expressed in the imaginations of children, the mural captures the story of Joplin’s unbroken spirit and hopeful outlook after the storm.

© D. Loewenstein 2011




From a Dream to The Promise
Located outside the Honeycomb Restaurant at 705 Main Street
Arkadelphia, Arkansas

Lead Artist – Dave Loewenstein
Mural Assistant – Ashley Jane Laird
Mural Apprentice – Jordan Karpe
With the support of more than two hundred community volunteers

Known to many as the ‘Athens of Arkansas,’ Arkadelphia’s passionate and enduring support of education is the focus of this mural. Underneath a decorative archway of soaring pine trees, a young student holding a symbolic pine tree sapling considers his future and potential. His journey unfolds amidst references to Arkadelphia’s cultural history including Peake School, the Arkadelphia Promise, and the Hunter - Dunbar Expedition. All of these are centered around the majestic figure of a woman, symbolizing education and mentorship, who lights the way to the young man’s future.

© D. Loewenstein  2012




Storytellers: Sharing the Legacy

Located on the outside of the East Branch Public
Library at 901 Elm Avenue in Waco, Texas

Lead artist – Dave Loewenstein
Mural Assistant – Ashley Jane Laird
Mural Apprentice – Catherine Hart
With the generous support of more than two hundred community volunteers

Situated along Elm Avenue in historic East Waco, the library’s mural honors the legacy of this vibrant community. The mural design, built in three parts, begins with a series of panels along the bottom where Elm Ave., Paul Quinn College, the Alpha Theater, Kermit Oliver, Doris Miller and Juneteenth are remembered. Above, a series of symbolic pictograms refer to East Waco’s cultural, geographic and economic life, while the top of the mural takes inspiration from the tradition of hand-painted signs popular here.

© D. Loewenstein  2013




Working Together Toward a People’s Art
Located at the intersection of Eastside Boulevard
and 4th Street in Hastings, Nebraska

lead artist – Dave Loewenstein
assistant – Amber Hansen
apprentice – Rebecca Harrison
project coordinator – Kaleena Fong

With guidance and generous assistance from over three hundred Hastings residents, especially Dave Stewart.

Painted alongside the Pioneer Spirit Hike & Bike Trail, this 210’ foot long mural explores the community process that takes place behind the scenes before painting begins. Each vignette highlights a different part of the process from initial research to drawing to projecting the design, and features many of the Hastings’ design team members. Special details include local artist Dave Stewart holding up the mural’s magic mirror, prehistoric fish from the Hastings Museum and a colorful evocation of the Fisher Rainbow Fountain.

© D. Loewenstein  2013

1 comment:

  1. FYI: We the People recognize that MANY US citizen's currently are INTENTIONALLY through their actions, words and art, are dismissing/undermining/belittling/discrediting and slandering the former historic "accomplishments" of Our forefather's because of their skin color! So YOU ALL are GUILTY of the exact type of racial prejudice that you fervently CLAIM to be against! Being WHITE is NOT a crime. Surely our society has committed many atrocities throughout time YET it is primarily WHITE people who instigated/perpetuated the FREEDOM of slaves as well. Furthermore, white people did NOT start slavery either; STOP spouting off when you do NOT know the historical FACTS.
    So, We the People wonder, in lieu of these FACTS, WHY IT IS that We are now the fall guy for every _uckin thing that the "people of color" decide that We are GUILTY of or responsible for. Talk about white privilege...yes I fully enjoy the privilege of being WHITE when it includes being well informed about the actual events and FACTS of what has taken place in Our country/home. Facts that you all have twisted to fit into your "Poor Me" narrative...deeming your own race as victim's and as weak. These actions only serve to further cement the indecisiveness, hate and separation between the races of Our country that you all chose to become a part of making YOU directly responsible for the mess Our country is in RIGHT NOW!!!
    So, though you claim to want to bring balance/peace/collaboration among Our cities and Our people's what your actually doing is quite the OPPOSITE. I recommend you elevate/illuminate your brain/mind/consciousness to match WHITE PEOPLE then We can find peace/collaboration/respect in our cities! BOOM

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