Katherine Dunham Mural Project – East St. Louis

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By Andra Lang Jr., 22

I was asked to complete a commission project for the Katherine Dunham museum located in my home town of East Saint Louis. I’m a former student of school district 189, an artist, and a co-chair of a local collaborative initiative movement called East Side Aligned. I received this role not long before I was asked to complete the project. It has become a pivotal position as an artist and I get to advocate for the community and surrounding areas. This all started when I was sixteen; I was a band, speech, and drama student who became an artist and have been evolving ever since. 

The mural started in the spring of 2018. It really captured the essence of cultural traditions by focusing on visual, academic, and performance arts education. Combining visual arts and performance art was my goal. The commissioner was Laverne Backstrom and East Side Aligned- the local collaborative movement. Christian Activity Center administered the project behind the scenes and ensured its completion. They enforced attendance and safety protocol, as well as setting expectations for the quality and supplies needed for the process. This marked the beginning of a new career path for me. I was asked to complete an eight-panel wall that stood 20 ft high. It needed to have the logo and images of dancers. I took it in that direction but tailored the silhouettes to resemble some dances I found in videos online. 

It took a full year to complete, but it flew by. I had to use outdoor paint on a larger, heavily textured brick in five different colors. The first day was cold and wet. Snow had just started to fall and I was afraid to start; I needed encouragement, but nonetheless, I was ready to apply the background color and work my way up to the silhouettes. My entire mood shifted into uncertainty and concern about if it would be completed, but I made sure to stay motivated. The work was hard, but I had plenty of help.

As the year passed, I started to notice the progress. The characters begin to really take shape, and it was starting to look as if the studio was in the streets. It meant that the paintings of the dancers from the videos were truly moving along the brick wall, and with the metro passing by, it appeared to be animated. Time was moving quickly and I didn’t feel confident in the quality, but I didn’t give up, and eventually, it was completed. 

The mural is a dedication to the Katherine Dunham workshop and Sunshine Anderson Dance Center based in the community of East Saint Louis. This piece is a collaborative effort and it will always be a cornerstone for experiences through the arts. From this opportunity, I was able to distinguish myself and work freely to combine my knowledge of arts and crafts through methods of applied problem solving, to fully grasp the details of coordinating and leading a project at this scale, while also learning how to paint outdoors.

I am slowly being molded to understand collaboration and brainstorming from the allies and friends that have helped provide access to how and what these shared spaces in our community should be and look like. I enjoyed the meaning and the memory of working together to get this mural done. While driving past the mural I participated in creating I feel accomplished. My work isn’t complete though, I hope to build a team in order to ensure more healthy creative environments where we can learn and grow together from the techniques, strategies, and history of art-making. And I hope to develop spaces for youth like myself to shine and be able to create art around topics and ideas they find important. If you like this idea feel free to reach out and support or join this team of community artists at any time. Andra can be reached at Langofartstudio@gmail.com