"Seeds" mural restoration begins

Today we began restoring "Seeds," a mural I completed in 1996. Feel free to come paint a few strokes, beginning this Saturday, on days when the temperature is over 55 degrees. Below, a glimpse of how the fresh new color looks...

Before

After

And here are a couple photos taken in 1996 during the painting process.

Arkadelphia Mural Dedication

Join us for a ....

Celebration of the new 

Arkadelphia Community Mural

Sunday, October 7th

2:00 - 4:00 pm

705 Main Street

Arkadelphia, Arkansas

more information at 

http://midamericamuralproject.blogspot.com/

Brownback Print CENSORED!

*UPDATE* The Blue Planet informed me that they did not agree to censoring this piece and do not condone or support its being taken down. The piece was taken down by Greg Ready of Gizmo Pictures as you can read below.

C E N S O R E D !

This print was taken down by the owners of Gizmo Pictures today. If you care about free speech especially when it involves criticism of those in power, please call and or visit Gizmo Pictures (upstairs above the Blue Planet) and let them know how you feel. Below is the text of the email I received from, Gizmo co-owner, Greg Ready informing me that the piece was to be censored.

"Dave,

This is Greg Ready. I'm not sure if we have met or not, but I am part owner of Gizmo Pictures and the Thacher building where your artwork is being displayed in the Blue Planet Cafe. We have chosen to take down the picture of Sam Brownback burning out of respect to his daughter Liz, who works for us. This decision has nothing to do with politics or our belief in your freedom of speech through art. Liz is a valued employee and friend to us and I (we) felt strongly against subjecting her to having to look at a picture of her father burning at her place of employment. It should also be noted that this decision was made by me, with the backing of my business partner Jeff, and not at the request of Liz.

I hope you will understand. If you wish to discuss this further, feel free to call either phone number listed below, e-mail or drop by my office at Gizmo (upstairs from the Blue Planet). 

Thanks."

Contact the owners here:

Jeff Carson and Greg Ready, owners of Gizmo Productions

785-267-7878  

greg@gizmopictures.com

jeff@gizmopictures.com

110 SE 8th Avenue, Topeka, KS

Read articles about this story at these links below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/04/kansas-artist-dave-loewen_n_1940225.html

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/oct/04/lawrence-artist-miffed-after-topeka-restaurant-tak/

http://cjonline.com/news/2012-10-03/artist-miffed-censorship-brownback-print