Support the Kansas Arts Commission

In his budget proposal for the state, Governor Sam Brownback has threatened to abolish the Kansas Arts Commission. If his budget is adopted, Kansas would become the only state in the United States that does not support the arts. (read the Topeka Capital-Journal article here)
This is unacceptable.
Please, if you care about the Arts, contact your state senator and the governor to express your support for the Kansas Arts Commission.

MAAA Mural Project Video

Tonkawa - Newton Mural Project
by Amber Hansen and Nicholas Ward

This short video brings together footage and interviews from the Tonkawa, OK and Newton, KS mural projects during the summer of 2010. A longer format documentary about these and future projects is in the works.

Studio Open House

It's been a few years since I've done a proper show and tell, so I'm having a...
Studio Open House
Saturday & Sunday
December 4th & 5th
1 - 6 pm
Come see new stencils, graphic novelettes, mural studies and other unclassifiable artifacts. And, if you like, bring something to get stencilized (shirts, books, cars, computers, pets, etc).

My studio is located just a couple blocks east of downtown at -
411 East 9th Street
Lawrence, Kansas

Celebrate People's History

Check out this great new book which I am honored to be included in. "Celebrate People's History" is edited by artist and activist Josh MacPhee and is published by the Feminist Press at the City University of New York.

"110 posters by over eighty artists pay tribute to revolution, racial justice, women’s rights, queer liberation, labor struggles, and creative activism and organizing. Celebrate People’s History!presents these essential moments—acts of resistance and great events in an often hidden history of human and civil rights struggles—as a visual tour through decades and across continents, from the perspective of some of the most interesting and socially engaged artists working today.” — Josh MacPhee

Here is the poster I made for the book. It's a spraypaint stencil titled "The Amazon Army." The text that's at the bottom of the poster is reproduced below.

On December 11, 1921, propelled by the need to feed their children and outraged at Kansas’s new anti-labor legislation, a crowd of more than 500 women gathered in Franklin, Kansas and resolved to march in solidarity with miners striking at union District 14 coal mines. The strike was called in response to the new Industrial Court Law signed by Kansas Governor Allen, which forced unions into arbitration and outlawed strikes. On December 12th, the women began their march on the mines, armed only with the American flag, which they carried to make clear that the values it symbolized were synonymous to those of their cause.

By December 15^th, the march had swelled to more than 4,000 stretching over a mile long. With the mines at a stand still, word spread that the militia was en route, and the women, dubbed the “Amazon Army” by the New York Times, voluntarily chose to end their march in the hopes of preventing bloodshed. Victory for the marchers and their striking coal miners came the following year when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the compulsory arbitration clause of the Industrial Court Law was unconstitutional. Workers still had the right to strike.

Community-Based Public Art class coming soon!

Offered for the first time at Washburn University

Instructor - Dave Loewenstein

Community-Based Public Art: Roots and Practice* January 2011

*listed as Murals and Public Art in Washburn course catalog

Beginning with a series of lectures, visiting speakers, and field trips, this unique new course will introduce art students to the roots and current practice of collaborative community-based public art: projects that bring local people together in partnership with professional artists, to engage in an open process that culminates in the creation of site specific artworks reflecting their interests and their workmanship. Following the classroom work, students will move to the studio where each will develop their own design for a community mural at a specific site in the Topeka area. This process will include site visits, meetings with stakeholders, and consideration of logistics in the execution of the work. The completed designs will be shown at the end of the semester in an exhibition open to the public.

“The highest, most logical, purest and most powerful type of painting is mural painting. It is also the most disinterested, as it cannot be converted into an object of personal gain nor can it be concealed for the benefit of a few privileged people. It is for the people. It is for everybody.”

- Jose Clemente Orozco, Mexican Muralist

Newton - "The Imagineers"

Thanks again to Matt, Erika, Nick, and all the folks in Newton and North Newton for their support in seeing "The Imagineers" come to life. Below are images of the completed mural. Enjoy.



















photo by Jim Wimmer

Newton - mural celebration photos

It was a fabulous day. The weather, beautiful. The turnout, over 200. And the spirit, including a sweet dance performance accompanied by live music, just heartwarming. Many people spoke about the project including Barb Burns, Rachel Epp Buller, Erika Nelson, Joe Loganbill, and Bethel College President Perry White. You can read some of their comments in the Newton Kansan article published today.


Here are some of my comments from the program handed out at the celebration:

Approaching the mural, one sees a group of people around a table engaged in the process of building, playing, restoring, and imagining. These figures are symbolic of the Newton/ North Newton community. They are not based on particular individuals so much as they are composites of the many and varied peoples of the area. This group. This family. This community. They have chosen to address the important questions of their town's identity, history, and future, and they are actively working to better understand who they are and what they wish to become. So, this mural is not so much a literal transcribing of history or an enumeration of the individuals and architecture already known, as it is an evocation of an idea or a visual poem that attempts to capture the spirit of an energized and optimistic community choosing to become a better place for all of its citizens.


Dance performance by the Newton Dance Project choreographed by Sara Dick.


Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this such a great project. Now, all I've got to do is varnish that darn thing in the morning and we can call it good.