BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) - The Fountain Square Players were looking for a way to liven up their building on State Street while honoring the historic African American Shake Rag District.
Street artist Renda Writer was looking for work after his latest gig in St. Louis.
With the help of local artist Andee Rudloff, Writer got a new gig – helping the FSP open its “Second Act.”
Writer completed a world peace mural last weekend on the FSP building as part of his World Peace Mural Tour.
The mural, which features messages of “Love” and “World Peace” as well as William Shakespeare’s quote “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players,” is the 76th mural Writer has completed as part of his tour spanning eight countries. It’s the second one in Kentucky.
FSP secretary Jeffrey Moore said the whole process came together in a 72-hour span – culminating in the completion of the project Saturday.
“You get a group of people determined to do something” and it happens, Moore said. “There was all this energy and everybody was like, ‘What can I do?’ It was very organic. There was no outline of what this was going to look like.”
Writer, who has been traveling from place to place looking to create art during the coronavirus pandemic, said he got the idea about heading to Bowling Green after reaching out to fellow artist Rudloff on Instagram shortly after a prospective job in St. Louis fell through.
“The story of how I connected with Andee and the story of how I got the wall is actually very much like the stories of how I got all these walls,” Writer said. “I just stay busy and I just work hard. I always do a lot of research. I’m on the internet a lot … and I am very focused.
“When I know I want to do a mural somewhere I just kind of do whatever it takes to make it happen.”
Rudloff said she had been talking about doing something on the building for more than five years, so when she spoke with Writer she knew this was a match that needed to be made.
“Sometimes it just takes that ember of an outside voice to really spark a whole another level of creativity,” Rudloff said. “I think Renda loves being that ember.”
Discussions between Writer and the FSP board began Wednesday, with the board quickly approving the project.
A GoFundMe page, which has raised more than $1,300 to date, was set up with Writer beginning the mural Friday evening.
Writer worked all day Saturday to complete the project, drawing the attention of everyone from patrons of the nearby barber shop to passing motorists. Moore said many of those people stopped to take pictures, while some just wanted to see what was going on and talk to Writer.
Writer said those conversations led to a better understanding of the history of the Shake Rag District.
“They told me a little bit about the history behind the Shake Rag District and everything and everyone was so appreciative, so that’s how I knew that this was a perfect situation,” Writer said. “I’m just really happy with how it all worked out.”
Moore said the response to the mural has been overwhelmingly positive.
“We thought with everything going on that this is a big positive message,” Moore said. “It activates this space. It’s giving us a place to play.”
He added that in light of the current pandemic, which has seen theater companies scramble to adapt, this opens the door for Fountain Square Players’ second act.
With the mural as the backdrop of an open grass lot, the area has already served as the site for the recent Juneteenth celebration. The Warren County Public Library is hosting a book discussion at the site this weekend, with a Kentucky Emancipation Day event scheduled there Aug. 8.
Moore said the mural could serve as a backdrop for performances and perhaps even a movie night.
“We’ve been around for 42 years,” Moore said. “There are certain ways we were doing things as a theater that are not going to work. We were already starting to adapt because audiences were starting to dwindle. So we were doing some unique things.
“We are thinking about doing live performances out here. We are working with Shakertown and doing some things there. … The way theater looked before (the pandemic) this, it was already starting to change, but COVID has really made us ask how we are adapting.”
Rudloff said the mural can serve as an important part of the history of Shake Rag District, bridging the gap between past and present.
“For Shake Rag to get probably the biggest mural that has been down in Bowling Green outside in over 20 years is monumental and is also of vital importance considering everything that is happening in our nation right now,” Rudloff said. “I think to have that be the space where people will gather is really an important time in the history of our city.”
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