Monroe artist returns home to enrich community with Selma Rankins mural

The music is just as important as the art.

Before Tony Wavy ever put a paintbrush to the white picket fence at the Selma Rankins Jr. Community Garden, he made sure the mood was properly set.

The sounds of gospel soul played Wavy through the finishing touches on his mural last week. He may not have directly followed in the footsteps of his two preacher parents, but Wavy keeps the lessons they imbued close to his heart as he follows his own passions through life.

Those passions sprouted in Monroe, grew and flourished down South, and then came full circle as he returned to his hometown as part of the second year of the Plntng Seeds program. Wavy is one of seven artists this summer helping the initiative in its mission to reengage the creative heart of the city.

His contribution is a bright and meaningful 40-foot mural welcoming visitors to the community gardens alongside Labor Park and the Opportunity Center at the Arthur Lesow Community Center in the city's Orchard East neighborhood.

"What the arts do is develop us all as a whole," Wavy said. "It's great to be part of something positive like this. ... Monroe can feel like such a small world, but to expand that world with art is beautiful."

Known as the "Hip-Hop Picasso" in Lexington, Kentucky, Wavy has built a brand that mixes art, music and activism. In addition to being a muralist, Wavy is a prolific painter, has illustrated seven books, and designs logos. He also is a rapper and songwriter and released his first album "Hopstar" in 2022.

Wavy has painted over 20 murals mostly found across Kentucky, North Carolina and Michigan, but his latest carries special meaning. He spent his early years making lasting memories at the Opportunity Center and Navarre Branch Library − pickup basketball, wrestling matches, video games, and countless parties and events.

"That was my childhood," Wavy said. "I remember winning raffles there. I won one of my first bikes there. I remember going to the library. I would go to the library and paint. I ate a worm there, and then I threw up there right outside."

Wavy's grandfather, Milton Jackson, was a pillar in community. He owned two nearby churches: New Faith Temple − or "the Purple Church" as Wavy remembers it − and the Apostolic House of Prayer. Both are gone now and the family moved to continue their ministry in North Carolina when Wavy was 10 years old. Now grown, Wavy relocated to Lexington last year.

"My family has a lot of history in Monroe," he said. "Orchard East was a good community then. I was always around family. It was a community where everybody knew everybody, so no matter where you went, there was family there."

The community gardens were established by the city soon after Wavy moved away and have grown thousands of pounds of food over the years. The garden's namesake, Mr. Selma Rankins Jr., was a local teacher and highly respected member of the community who died in 2016.

"He was iconic in the community," said Kellie Vining, a Monroe city councilwoman who also helps run the library. "He fought for student rights and advocated for students and parents for many, many years. When he passed away, we wanted to find a way to honor him, so we named the garden after him."

Vining helped bring Wavy back to Monroe for the garden's mural. She remains close with the family and followed Wavy's burgeoning art career through social media. She brought a portfolio of his work to Plntng Seeds Founder and Creative Director Woody Hoffer.

Hoffer said he was drawn to Wavy's creative talent in both art and music and his connections to Monroe.

"It seemed perfect to bring him home to do this piece for the community he grew up in and represents," Hoffer said. "His family was very instrumental in the Orchard East neighborhood. His family has been a staple in that community and it made sense to bring him home."

Wavy wanted the mural to have touches of both Rankins' life and the community he inspired. Each letter of "Selma Rankins" was designed with purpose and multiple layers of meaning exist in many facets of the design.

The gardens, of course, are most prominently represented with flowers growing from some letters and fruits and vegetables for others. The branching limbs play into that theme while also symbolizing the Orchard community and the sense of family that still exists there.

"Everybody is one branch from one tree," Wavy said. "A family tree. Each stem, each branch, no matter how small or how big it is, we're all one."

It's a community of "kings and queens," Wavy said, which he visualized in the royal purple and gold of the prominently centered "R" of Rankins' surname. Those colors also represent Louisiana where Rankins was born, while the industrial "E" and gold "M" ("the gold standard") in his first name personify the blue-collar spirit of Monroe.

"Everything has a little bit of representation," Wavy said. "I wanted to bring things that represent the community, from the basketball at the Center, to the library, to the industrial plants around us. Even the little girl. She represents the community and her purple dress is because of the church my grandfather owned there. Just the things that surround us and make up Monroe."

The personal touches toward Rankins' personality were the most popular.

"He had this phrase − 'No Clownin'' − so I put that in the mural," Wavy said. "And he used to give out Snickers to all the kids, so I put that at the end.

"I had so many people coming by to talk about Mr. Rankins. They would see the Snickers bar or the No Clownin' and they would resonate with that. I heard how much they love it. Honestly, that meant a lot to me because it made me feel like I'm doing something that really matters to people. Something they can understand and take ahold of and grasp it knowing somebody from this community was able to do something this big and hopefully inspire people."

The community has fervidly embraced the mural and everything it represents.

"I can't even describe the joy it brings," Vining said. "Words are not enough for me. I was overwhelmed and speechless and I'm never speechless. Every day I look at it and I just pick up on more beauty."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Monroe artist returns to enrich community with Selma Rankins mural