MURAL TOUR OF WEST PLAINS-2
GIFTED ARTISTS HAVE CONTRIBUTED THEIR TALENTS IN THE FORM OF MURALS TO WEST PLAINS
Evans Arcade
6 Court Square
Neighbors give a friendly greeting from their windows in the Evans Arcade.
(Artist: Michael McClure)
West Plains Bank
11 Court Square
Features wildlife and plant life in 1978. (Artist: Gary R. Lucy)
Guiding Light Therapy
203 E. Main
Wings mural with a great message: Stay Strong, You Matter.
(Artist: Emily Rae)
A collaboration of two artists stretching across decades. (Artist: Dr. Bolaji Ogunwo, inspired by a Charles E. Kimberlin, II painting)
Luster Arcade
14 Court Square
“The Protector,” a massive-scale mural, was officially unveiled in late 2022 on the north wall of 14 Court Square in Luster Arcade.
The mural represents a beautiful collaboration between two artists stretching across decades to create a work of art which is breathtaking in both scope and meaning.
“The Protector” is based on a portrait by late local artist Charles E. Kimberlin II. The name was given to the original portrait by its current owners Crockett and Tonya Oaks, who commissioned the mural as owners of the building upon which it is painted.
Charles E. Kimberlin, II was a 1936 graduate of West Plains High School and longtime downtown business owner. During the dedication of the new mural, Kimberlin’s son, Charles E. Kimberlin III, recalled that his father began painting as a hobby and did not have aspirations of selling his work, although many of his works were eventually sold. The artist responsible for the larger-than-life mural is Dr. Bolaji Ogunwo, a Nigerian artist who has more than 50 international art exhibitions to his credit. He currently is a studio artist and painting lecturer at the Department of Creative Arts, University of Lagos, Akoka, in Nigeria.
Dr. Ogunwo worked tirelessly for 10 days to recreate Kimberlin’s original portrait while infusing touches of his own artistic style.
“The Protector” is not Dr. Ogunwo’s only mural to adorn a wall in West Plains: In 2021, Crockett and Tonya Oaks commissioned a mural, “Helping Hands,” that now graces an interior wall of Christos House West Plains Resale. In 2023, “Release the Peace” was added next to “The Protector.” In 2024, he painted large canvases for the West Plains Public Library and Lincoln School.
“I have been many places in the states,” said Dr. Ogunwo, “but West Plains is my second home.”
From an article by Chris Herbolsheimer,
West Plains Daily Quill
Release the Peace Mural Companion piece to The Protector. (Artist: Dr. Bolaji Ogunwo)
Ozarks Small Business Incubator (OZSBI)
408 Washington Ave.
This Coca-Cola sign was brought back to life in 2021. (Artist: Sandra Pemberton)
Spring Dipper
675 Missouri Ave.
Spray paint graffiti art. (Artist: Mike Devine)
Lincoln School
1400 E. Pony Thomas Street
By God’s Grace Mural Mural depicting what the one-room schoolhouse classroom in Lincoln School could have looked like. Lincoln School was built in 1926 and closed in 1954 after the Supreme Court decision ruling segregation as unconstitutional.
Rocky Burgess property
4417 Highway 63 Pomona
Howell County Tribute Mural
Sign of gratitude to those who serve our
country. (Artist: Sandra Pemberton)