Baileys Harbor's Emerging Mural...Destiny or Coincidence?
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| (Left to right) Gary Nelson, owner of Nelson's Shopping Center; Nancy Rafal, coordinator of the Baileys Harbor Community Mural Project; and Ram Rojas, mural artist; are working together to showcase and celebrate Baileys Harbor's history, nature, and culture. Photo by Len Villano. |
By Patty Williamson
If,
as some people believe, there are no coincidences in life, then the
giant mural emerging on the north wall of the Nelson Shopping Center in
Baileys Harbor was destined to be.
Consider:
In 1959, a four-year-old boy in Caracas, Venezuela, showed a talent
for drawing and painting. Ten years later, the National Academy of Art
in Caracas began a program for gifted young artists, and Ram Rojas was
chosen for the first class.
When
he graduated at 17, he was recruited by the Vedanta Book Trust, a
publishing group with an international art department, to work on
illustrating the Veda, sacred Hindu texts thousands of years old, in a
Renaissance style. Their work also included paintings for the Palace of
Gold, a Hindu temple often referred to as the American Taj Mahal, in -
of all places - Moundsville, West Virginia. Years of travel and study
in Italy and India followed before the program ended abruptly,
stranding the young artists in Los Angeles.
"I
was lost," Rojas says. "I had a wonderful education in art and
international work experience, but knew very little about living in the
'real world.' I traveled around the U.S., working wherever I could and
met many people who helped my career. Finally, in 1989, I was invited
to come to the Peninsula Gallery in Ephraim (since closed), and I fell
in love with Door County."
| Art Highlights |
| * Taylor Mueller will display his deconstruction work at Mr. Helsinki in Fish Creek with an opening reception on Thursday from 5-7pm. * Plum Bottom Pottery will host the opening of "Project India" on Saturday from 4-8pm. This event showcases Angela Lensch's jewelry inspired by her six-week excursion to India and Nepal. * All ages are invited to participate in the festivities of the third annual Iron Pour Benefit at Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek on Saturday from 4-8pm. |