Let's paint: Southeast alumnus paints mural in downtown Cape

Southeast Missouri State University alumnus Terry Davis is in the midst of painting a mural on the east side of The Indie House in downtown Cape Girardeau, fueled by a passion for comic book art that began at an early age. But this isn’t his first mural.

Davis also has completed other large-scale artwork, including a piece at the Jackson Riverside Regional Library.

Partnering with Laurie Everett — owner of Annie Laurie’s and The Indie House, a community-based creative space — Davis said he designed an image representing the character of her businesses. The soon-to-be mural features a 1920s flapper-style girl wearing a crown, holding sunflowers in front of a background of brick and clouds with the words “You are my sunshine.”

Everett said what prompted her to have a mural painted on The Indie House was the legacy she feels the artwork holds in the downtown area.

“If you walk around downtown Cape, it’s easy to see our history of great mural art,” Everett said. “From the Coke sign by Port Cape to the music heritage sign on the side of Shivelbines, I really wanted to continue the tradition of putting art at the forefront of downtown Cape Girardeau. It’s important, and more art is never a bad thing.”

Perryville artist Terry Kolb Davis adds paint to his "Lady Sunshine" mural Wednesday at the Indie House in Cape Girardeau.BEN MATTHEWS

The creative process took two weeks and required hand-drawn designs before being transferred digitally to create various mock-ups through Photoshop, Davis said.

The atmosphere of the stores — and also Everett’s personality — was used as inspiration when creating the piece, he said. And what is unique about the creation of murals compared to traditional fine artwork, Davis said, is the public’s involvement.

“It gets me really excited to work with community members, especially to make something that is going to last, that’s going to be part of the history of the community,” Davis said. “Maybe it could even inspire people to think about things in a different way or just consider art in their towns.”

Davis said his favorite part of creating any mural is the space it allows for community engagement.

“I always have a lot of good memories of murals in the past where I’ve just been met with community members who come and talk to me about what the image I’m making reminds them of, and I think those stories are some of the most fun parts of it,” he said. “The idea behind that is that there’s a piece of the mural that anyone within the community can be a part of,” Davis said.