Gabe Perez, alumnus of Wayne State College, added color to downtown Wayne this summer by painting a mural on one of the local buildings.
Collaborating with both Amber Sperry, director of alumni relations for the Wayne State College Foundation, and Carter, or Cap, Peterson, owner of the building, Perez created a mural promoting the town and college. The three individuals started coming up with ideas, but Peterson specifically wanted to incorporate the entire community of Wayne, including the college, into the mural. According to an article on the WSC website, Peterson wanted Perez to include not just the community and the college in the mural, but the schools, farming, and other aspects associated with Wayne, Nebraska.
“He wanted something to do with Wayne and the college,” Perez said. “Sort of like an advertisement for everything.”
The mural took about two days to complete, Perez said, and came out to be about 15 feet high by 40 feet wide. However, the dimensions of the mural ended up being one of the biggest challenges with painting the mural.
“One of the hard things about this one is part way through we decided to move it ten feet, so I had to redo the whole thing,” Perez said. Even with this minor setback, Perez said the community’s support and encouragement made it all worth it in the end.
“The better part of it is the reaction of the community,” Perez said. “People driving by and yelling out their windows that they liked it.” This brings the project to a full circle since the motive behind painting the mural was for the community to enjoy after all.
As a double major in graphic design and studio arts, this isn’t the first time Perez has tackled a project like this. In fact, he’s been painting murals for the past six years, growing his knowledge in the art industry before he graduated college last May.
“This was just another Tuesday for me,” Perez said. While it comes naturally for Perez do create a mural like this, or any other art related project, he does it all with a purpose in mind.
“I do it because not everybody can,” Perez said. “I get to interact with people in a way that they usually wouldn’t, especially living in the Midwest. I get to bring in color to this part of the world.” As of right now, Perez is currently working full-time as an independent artist. He also runs a nonprofit, TriCity Con, out of Grand Island, Nebraska, where they bring in artists from all around to showcase their work.
