ART DECO MURAL
Mural on the north side of the Center for the Arts by renowned precisionist, Edmund D. Lewandowski
Edmund D. Lewandowski's impressive painting career began during Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) and spanned half a century. A renowned American Precisionist artist and esteemed arts educator, Lewandowski worked as a public school teacher and commercial artist. He also served in the military as an Air Force mapmaker and camouflage artist. His hard-edged and often hyper realistic works range from farmscapes and marine subjects to industrial scenes and abstracted landscapes. In 1973, Lewandowski joined the faculty of Winthrop University, serving as the chair of the Fine Arts Department at Winthrop University until his retirement in 1984. He also served the greater arts community as a member of the Rock Hill Arts Council’s board.
Lewandowski’s art deco mural (1996) faces East White Street on the back of the Center for the Arts. It is a historical reminder of what can be accomplished even in the most trying political times.
LEFT | Edmund D. Lewandowski's original Art Deco Mural as seen in 2016.
2017 MURAL REFRESH
Artist Sharon Dowell refreshed Lewandowski’s mural in 2017. She partnered with the Arts Council’s staff in choosing a color palette inspired by the ACYC logo. It was during this time that the work was amended to include the Arts Council’s logo and Center for the Arts identifier.
Of the project, former ACYC Executive Director Debra Heintz said, “Rock Hill is a perfect example of collaborative efforts to ‘build the arts into our everyday fabric.”
The 2017 mural refresh was completed in partnership with the Women's Art Initiative.
MURAL MILE
Edmund D. Lewandowski's Art Deco Mural is a part of the Old Town Rock Hill Mural Mile.
RIGHT | Edmund D. Lewandowski's Art Deco Mural refreshed by Sharon Dowell in 2017.
