The Boss Cowman square is a declaration of finding our identity. It is designed in a way for everyone in our community to have a fingerprint in one place. Most importantly, it is an avenue to honor our heroes who have thrived in ranching and agriculture. This project specifically intends to immortalize the Legendary Ed Lemmon. It is a community project where everyone is encouraged to contribute to its execution. Within the square, we would have a hybrid metal sculpture of Ed Lemmon (h 12 ft, L 8 ft, W 4 ft) and a mural painting of 120 ft by 15 ft. While i would be responsible for the execution of the monumental sculpture, Dotun and Jonathan from Nigeria would be executing the wall mural.
Dotun Popoola is an atist/curator with the National Gallery of Arts in Nigeria and Imafidor Jonathan is an artist/Lecturer in Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. They both attended the same institution where they studied Fine and Applied Arts and have executed several public projects and commissioned works in Nigeria. They have participated in several art exhibitions within and outside Nigeria and they are constantly researching on ways to better the quality of art they practice. They both belong to an Art Movement called 'ARAISM MOVEMENT'.
They have the following to say :
'We were excited when we were first hinted about a mural to be painted for the proposed G E Lemmon (Boss Cowman Square) in Lemmon, South Dakota. We were more excited when we learned about the size which is about 140ft by 20ft, as it will be the largest mural we have ever painted in our separate artistic lives. We left Nigeria on the 10th of May, 2016 with so much energy, enthusiasm and zeal to contribute our own little quota to this magnificent project. We traveled for seven days from Nigeria, through the Atlantic ocean to the city of Lemmon in South Dakota stopping intermittently within America for short breaks. We finally got here on the 17th of May about quarter to midnight and we swung into action the next morning as early as 7 am. The wall was intimidating in size and so we left no stone un-turned to cover a large chunk of the wall. Its the second day and we have almost covered all the wall. It has been a wonderful experience so far. People have been coming around to show some love and their words of appreciation have been very encouraging. We got flowers from little Anne today and we are touched'.
To learn more about this project in Lemmon, South Dakota click on this link. http://www.johnlopezstudio.com/blog-flatiron/
