Local youths create new mural

The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton Ja'Leayiah Easter paints a flower while James Avery paints a ladybug on a new mural the two are working on with Anthony Tidwell at the Cutwell 4 Kids studio at 247 Silver St. Both have been students under Tidwell in his C4K program, and all three learned the art of painting murals from Italian artist Pepe Gaka.
The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton Ja'Leayiah Easter paints a flower while James Avery paints a ladybug on a new mural the two are working on with Anthony Tidwell at the Cutwell 4 Kids studio at 247 Silver St. Both have been students under Tidwell in his C4K program, and all three learned the art of painting murals from Italian artist Pepe Gaka.

After learning skills from a well-known mural artist, two local youths are now using those skills to help create a new mural in Hot Springs.

Ja'Leayiah Easter and James Avery, both of Cutwell 4 Kids, are in the process of painting a new mural on the C4K studio.

Earlier this year, Italian mural artist Pepe Gaka, whose real name is Giuseppe Percivati, came back to Hot Springs to paint another mural in the city. By the time he left the Spa City, Gaka had created two murals, making five Pepe Gaka murals in the city, and he had shared his knowledge of painting with the students at C4K.

Gaka didn't paint the two murals by himself. The murals were a collaboration with local artists, and the founder of C4K, Anthony Tidwell. Tidwell said that Gaka liked what he saw at C4K, and wanted to show the kids how to do his style of art.

Tidwell said that he was impressed that Gaka would be willing to teach the kids how to paint murals, noting that teaching a classroom full of kids the art form creates more competition for Gaka in the future. Tidwell, while a painter, also didn't know how to paint murals before the collaboration.

The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton Ja'Leayiah Easter paints a flower while James Avery paints a ladybug on a new mural the two are working on with Anthony Tidwell at the Cutwell 4 Kids studio at 247 Silver St. Both have been students under Tidwell in his C4K program, and all three learned the art of painting murals from Italian artist Pepe Gaka.
The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton Ja'Leayiah Easter paints a flower while James Avery paints a ladybug on a new mural the two are working on with Anthony Tidwell at the Cutwell 4 Kids studio at 247 Silver St. Both have been students under Tidwell in his C4K program, and all three learned the art of painting murals from Italian artist Pepe Gaka.

Wanting to use the skills that he and his students learned from Gaka, Tidwell said he decided to create a very simple mural on the front of his building at 247 Silver St. The mural is in two parts, one on either side of the building. At first, Tidwell said he only planned to paint six flowers, three on either side.

Easter, Tidwell said, is the reason that he decided the mural would have flowers on it. He said that Easter, 12, had been wanting to paint flowers. So in May, the two started painting the six flowers on the wall. From there, Tidwell said that the mural started to evolve. "It was completed, but we kept adding to it," Tidwell said.

The mural now has 12 flowers on it.

Easter, who also helped paint on one of the two murals that Gaka and Tidwell worked on earlier in the year, called this experience fun. She also said that it hasn't been a difficult job. "My main focus is keeping inside the lines," Easter said.

On working with Gaka, Easter said that "it was cool. He's very inspiring."

Easter has been in the C4K program for several years. Her mother, Erica Torrence, said that C4K has been good for Easter. She said that she was excited about Easter getting to work with Gaka. "I felt like this was an amazing opportunity, to be able to work with Pepe ... (it) gave her insight into what she can achieve if she sticks with it," Torrence said.

Torrence also liked that Tidwell wanted Easter to paint on the C4K building. Torrence said that since Easter is painting on a building that she frequently goes to, it would be more intimate and personal for her to work on this mural.

As the mural started to evolve from the original simple design, Tidwell said he decided to add Avery to the project. Avery has been adding ladybugs and butterflies to the flowers.

Like Easter, Avery, 18, also got to learn from Gaka on how to paint murals. "He's a real cool guy," Avery said about Gaka. Avery said that Gaka taught him how to make things the correct scale and dimensions.

The experience of learning from Gaka, Avery said, was a good one. "It actually gives me a shortcut," Avery said. He said instead of trying to make a mural and messing up, he already knows what he is doing because of getting to learn from Gaka. "It helps a lot," Avery said.

One thing that Avery said he has enjoyed about painting the mural is that people driving by have stopped to compliment the work. Avery also said that he likes how much color the mural has brought to the neighborhood. "Hopefully it makes people want to color up this side (of the town)," Avery said.

Avery also explained that they are trying to make the mural. "Kids love flowers, colors and ladybugs ... who doesn't love flowers," Avery said.

Since joining C4K in April, Avery has gone from student to instructor in the program, and was the featured artist at this year's The Birth of an Artist program.

The Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance helped bring Gaka back to Hot Springs. HSACA Executive Director Mary Zunick said that Gaka working with C4K was a "major intent" of the project. She said that the experience these youngsters had with Gaka was wonderful, because it filled the students with pride.

"It's looking great, beautiful, brightens up the building," Zunick said.

While the mural is still evolving, Tidwell said he expects the mural to actually be finished by the first of September. Once this one if finished, Tidwell said he intends to work on an even bigger one on the side of the building. With that one, he said that Gaka will return to Hot Springs next year to help the students bring the next mural to life.

Local on 08/19/2019

Upcoming Events