Public Art to Honor Maxine Lloyd Lewis in Mission Plaza

Originally published on slocity.org

If you are healthy, we invite the public to stop by Mission Plaza! Grab food, take a seat and watch some artwork come to life! A group of chalk muralists and Renoda Campbell will be creating a 20×20 chalk mural of Maxine Lloyd Lewis from Thursday, June 25 to Saturday, June 27.

Lewis was best known for her work as an activist on behalf of community members in need in San Luis Obispo. In the more than two decades that she devoted to serving the community, Lewis received over 15 awards for her efforts. The former homeless shelter on Orcutt Road bore her name until 2018, when its services were merged with the new 40 Prado Homeless Services Center.

The quote being used in the design from Maxine Lewis: “give them a flower while they live — not when they are dead.”’ “We’re just trying to bring a little sunshine into someone’s life. Or just to let them know we care,”

8 daisies in artwork represent her 8 children. Daisies (signifying motherhood and hope).

If you are unable to attend, don’t worry, we will be posting photographs after it is complete! Please remember to wear a face covering and to practice physical distancing while out and about!

Artists

Renoda Campbell is a San Luis Obispo based Wedding and portrait photographer. She has been active in diversity and inclusion initiatives at Cal Poly, Cuesta College and the City of San Luis Obispo since 2006. As a photographer, she captures special moments that encourage reflection, beauty, and spark conversation.
Lori Antoinette is a graduate of Fine Art from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her work was primarily on canvas, but later had her own wearable arts business. When she discovered chalk on the ground at the first Pasadena (CA) Chalk Festival in 1993, it was love at first chalk, adopting her motto, “Have Chalk, Will Travel!”
Sharyn Chan, a self-taught artist and student of her fellow street painters, works travelling around the world as a street artist and muralist. Graduating with a computer science degree and programming for 30+ years, she stumbled upon Santa Barbara’s I Madonnari festival and fell in love with the medium. Her work can be seen in cities such as Santa Barbara, California; Redwood City, California; Jordan, Minnesota and various private homes throughout the nation.
Katy McGrath’s interest in large-scale chalk drawing sparked during the I Madonnari festival in Mission Plaza and she began participating as an artist in 1998. Her content began with superheroes and cartoon characters and later she was drawn toward the pin-up style of artwork popularized during World War II.
Lury Norris is a working artist on the Central Coast. She is an art resident at Studios on the Park. She has been a practicing artist since 2008 and has traveled throughout the state and country doing chalk paintings. She teaches drawing classes through her studio, through SLOMA and through the Cuesta Emeritus program.

The public art will be created during the City’s new Open SLO Program, a new pilot program that expands the use of city streets and other public spaces to support physical distancing and the economic recovery of local businesses.