He was frequently painting live at the time and would only have 5 to 8 hours each day to work on a piece. 'It's not as hard as just tedious,' Evans said of the process.Įvans said he began developing his vibrant portraiture style in 2014. He started work on the Kokomo mural before noon each day and would continue until dusk. The wall's bricks helped him make sure everything was level. The process, he explained, is called a doodle grid. He then marked where certain points would be on the wall and filled in the rest.

'I really liked that pose because it had a little more meaning to it.'Īfter taking the photograph, Evans painted the mural's background on Thursday and layered the model photo over a photo of the building. 'She told me about how, when she participates in powwows, there's a part where they look to the sky and close their eyes. The artist said he prefers to take his own photographs because his vibrant abstract portraitures require contrasting shadows and highlights. Williams explained the group also decided to use a living member of the Miami Nation of Indiana because Evans prefers to work with live models.Įvans explained Friday his process started by meeting with Siders Bitzel and asking her to pose for different photographs. 'And we thought that it would be important to project female Native American presence downtown.' 'It's a female owned business,' Ward said. Linda Lucas, he said, is the main owner at The Foxes Trail.

However, the group wanted to show the Miami Nation's ongoing presence in Indiana.Ĭhris Ward, co-owner of The Foxes Trail, explained he was also proud to see a woman depicted on the building. Initially, the group had considered using the likeness of Chief Kokomo, who the city is named after. 'I think it shows not only something that needs to be celebrated and venerated in this community, but I think we're going to be able to, with this project, take what's possible with public art to higher heights,' Williams said. It took several meetings to settle on the content and location of the mural, Williams said, adding social discourse was kept in mind through every stage of the process. 'Even though we do have public art, we have Artists Alley and we have all of these things to appreciate, we're not seeing art as a pivotal force in terms of social discourse and social justice,' Williams said in a Friday phone interview. Each of the members, Williams said, were selected for their efforts in social discourse. Barnett, Maynard Eaton, Sally Tuttle and Janie Young. Then, after receiving a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, a team was built by local Arts Federation representative Robin Williams to discuss how the mural should be executed. In a Friday phone interview, Tetia Lee, CEO of The Arts Federation, explained the project was first considered in 2020. A handful of the passersby had already met Evans and simply wanted to compliment him on his work. Multiple pedestrians stopped to speak with the artist before the speakers called him over for some photos. 'But to be able to contribute to the city of Kokomo and to the community here in such a manner is a great honor.'Ī crowd gathered across the street as the dedication organizers prepared for Sunday's event. So it's not really anything that feels any different,' Siders Bitzel said. 'Being a representative of the Miami Nation of Indiana I've done, pretty much, my whole life. The turtle at the base of the necklace, she explained, was a representation of her family. The necklace shown in the mural had been passed down to Siders Bitzel from her grandmother. Now, Siders Bitzel holds the same position. Siders Bitzel's grandmother had been the secretary of the Miami of Indiana for decades, the model explained. The first thing the model noticed about the mural was the turtle necklace she was wearing in the painting.

Doodle monster mural