QC artist creates colorful nature oasis atop new YWCA
In an impressive career of public art, Atlanta Dawn’s latest outdoor mural is her biggest yet, and not even visible to the general public.
The 30-year-old Rapids City artist is just about done with a 4,300-square-foot nature mural that surrounds a new outdoor childcare playground (open to the sky) being built on top of the new YWCA Quad Cities, at 513 17th St., Rock Island.
The formerly gray concrete walls Dawn painted with explosive, vibrant colors are 100 feet long and 18 feet high (she used scaffolding to reach the higher parts) and the shorter walls are 37 feet by 18 feet.
Dawn was chosen for the project because the YWCA was “highly impressed with the detail and creativity with her murals,” president/CEO Julie Larson said Tuesday. “We wanted to add a touch of nature to the playground and after she presented us her ideas, we knew she was the perfect fit.”
The two-story, 48,900-square-foot building (under construction since fall 2021) is completed with the pool slated to be finished in early May, Larson said. They’re just waiting for the new child care furniture to arrive and once the rooms are set up, DCFS will visit and issue a license for the new facility. The Y hopes to move in on or before May 1.
YWCA is planning to move from its much smaller 70-year-old building at 229 16th St., Rock Island, including a new childcare center that will expand the organization’s capacity from 130 kids to 350.
Dawn’s last major mural was for a Living Lands & Waters garage in East Moline last October, and larger murals she did last summer include a 700-square-foot one at Hey Bryans bar at 1140 15th Ave., East Moline (which incorporates key elements of downtown’s history), and a retaining wall on 18th Street near Lincoln Road in Bettendorf.
Her son Calvin was born Oct. 24, 2023, and she has a 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Violet, who are both in day care when she paints.
Varied nature scenes
For the Y in Rock Island, Dawn wanted to focus on a variety of plants, flowers, and insects (such as spiders, butterflies, bees and ladybugs) that kids could identify and learn about. She initially sent the Y a bunch of concepts and ideas and they went with the nature theme, she said Tuesday morning.
“They wanted to bring life to the concrete,” Dawn said. “It kind of looked like a prison yard before. We added a lot of these bugs and critters, things they would see out in nature.”
They plan to start a scavenger hunt for children (and adults) to identify parts of the mural.
One wall is specifically an education wall, with a large sun (with a face), reflections of four seasons and portraits of many children with different expressions, to reflect their emotions.
“That way, the teachers can interact with students,” Dawn said.
At Hey Bryans, Dawn used a boom lift to reach the top of that wall. She couldn’t use a lift on the foam flooring of the YWCA roof, but did with scaffolding. “It worked out great,” she said.
Dawn averaged about seven hours a day working, starting March 4, when those chilly days barely hit 40 degrees. She bundled up and is used to working in cold weather, with her years of experience painting holiday windows.
“It was definitely a ‘trust the process’ kind of mural, ’cause it’s so big, you gottta get a little bit done every day,” Dawn said of the Y. “It slowly builds and builds and builds.”
Help from others
Fellow QC muralist Heidi Sallows helped paint on three days, and Dawn also asked a few Quad City Arts Metro Arts students to help. Her assistant (and fellow Moline High alum) Pauline Hernstrom also helped paint.
“It’s a whole other style from what I’m used to,” Hernstrom, 28, said of murals. “It’s a different medium, different environment, definitely a different style. It’s just been really fun to learn from her. I really enjoy it. I just like how it connects with the community.”
They did a chalkboard together at Tap 22 in Silvis several years ago.
At the Y playground, Dawn also wanted to teach kids what milkweed looks like and how it’s beneficial to butterflies. Other flowers were chosen for being attractive to bees and butterflies.
The Y plans to have a rental room for private events, and may offer access to the space, which can’t be seen from the street, Dawn noted. “If that’s the case, I’m definitely bringing my daughter here for her birthday, because it would be so cool,” she said.
Upcoming projects
Dawn is one of 10 finalists for the downtown Rock Island Arts Alley murals, and the only local one, narrowed down after 400 artists from around the world submitted to be one of two selected for the walls in the 1700 block of 2nd Avenue.
“I was really surprised; I didn’t think I was gonna make it,” she said Tuesday. “I feel honored. I’m a little bummed I’m the only local.”
The specific designs for Arts Alley are due April 28 (artists will be paid $500 each), and they will be put on public display. The two artists are expected to be chosen in early April with murals completed in mid-June.
Dawn didn’t apply for the 2,400-square-foot downtown Moline mural (on the side of the Analog Pizza and Arcade building, 1405 5th Ave.) last fall, since she was having a baby. That $30,000 Moline mural was done by two Brooklyn, N.Y. artists.
She called the Arts Alley project (and whole downtown revitalization) “a really cool thing.”
“Murals do bring tourism and they create emotion,” Dawn said.
Payments for the Arts Alley artists will be:
Mural 1: $33,600 (80 feet x 28 feet)
Mural 2: $27,000 (60’ x 30’)
For both murals: 50% of the compensation is to be paid upon contract execution and 50% within two weeks of completion of the mural. This fee includes all associated costs of creation (i.e., materials, paint, transportation, etc.).
Dawn was the lead artist (with Heidi Sallows) who coordinated the new Alternating Currents murals in downtown Davenport last August, working with five artists to create those over four days, in the alley south of 2nd Street off Pershing Avenue. They’re doing more murals during the festival this summer in downtown Davenport, possibly along Armored Gardens and the Klemme building.
All last year’s artists were local, except one from Iowa City. They’re planning to add some lighting and an archway along the current AC murals. Dawn is on the art committee for the Downtown Davenport Partnership.
She has other mural projects planned, but if she’s picked for Arts Alley, they will be pushed back.
One is a big Rock Island Lines train mural at the Avenue Tap in Silvis, due to start April 22. Another is one for the Gilda’s Club Davenport clubhouse where people affected by cancer can get free wigs, and another along the railroad retaining wall near 5th Street and Harrison in downtown Davenport.
Dawn got a Quad City Arts grant for a new gallery/studio space, Art on The Bend, at the back of The Rust Belt in East Moline. There’s a common lounge area between the concert venue and Midwest Ale Works, and the owner wants to turn it into an art gallery featuring local artists.
Dawn is going to manage and promote that, including artist receptions with live music and snacks. That’s starting in June, and the first artist will be Tony Cavallo (who was one of the Alternating Currents artists).
“I’ve got a lot of things happening this year,” Dawn said. To see more of her art, visit her website HERE.
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