Beginning in 1904, the
REO Town Motor Car Company and Diamond REO filled the landscape of Lansing's South Side before shuttering in 1975. Starting this summer, REO Town Motors will fill the landscape again when a local artist installs a mural that celebrates the Oldsmobile era.
At the end of June, Grand Ledge artist
Tony Hendrick will adorn one of the original REO production facilities with a 56-foot by 28-foot mural. Hendrick's "Community Heart of REO" will be attached to the side of the now Quality Dairy building, just south of the railroad tracks on S. Washington Ave. Painted with acrylics on composite aluminum panels, the mural will face the site of the former plant, employee clubhouse, and epicenter of Ransom E. Olds' vision for a company and community that built cars and trucks.
Hendrick admits he didn't know a whole lot about REO Town and its history when he was first approached by the REO Town Commercial Association to do artwork that commemorated the Oldsmobile era. Since then, he's learned about REO Town heritage, and has met people who have both new and old connections with the company and area.
"Ransom E. Olds had a vision for a community withing the company," Hendrick says. "And what I've seen throughout this project is the continued passion and heart for this community."
Hendrick's mural has been in the works since February, and will integrate images of manufacturing and employee facilities, REO motorcars and trucks, and about a dozen portraits of former Diamond REO employees or family members. The
R.E. Olds Transportation Museum supported Hendrick's work by providing studio space at the museum, and helped him connect with former employees, vehicle owners and historians.
"The biggest thing I love about working on community mural projects is I get to help people express something that I think all of us have inside us," Hendrick says. "That's the desire to connect and recognize that we're all one. I think this project is very expressive of that."
"Community Heart of REO" will be Hendrick's second mural for REO Town. His first was created for the Oldsmobile Centennial and hung in REO Town up until a few years ago. That mural is now displayed at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum. Hendrick's new project is supported by a $19,305 grant awarded in October 2014 through the City of Lansing's Sense of Place in the Arts Program.
Grand Ledge Artist Tony Hendricks plans to install his new mural "Community Heart of REO" on the Quality Dairy building at 1400 S. Washington Ave., beginning around 11 a.m. on Saturday, June 27. The event will coincide with REO Town's 3rd Annual Beer Fest.
Source: Tony Hendrick, Artist, "Community Heart of REO" project
Writer: Ann Kammerer, News Editor
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