TEG
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
V V V
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
V V V
Good Evening
VVV
“See no color.”
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
ESU , Pol i c e D e p a r t m e n t coll a b o r a t e t o m a k e a r t i s t i c s t a t e m e n t
A mural for all
By Mary Ann Redeker
[email protected]
Emporia Police Chief Scott Cronk
had a dream of a mural adorning the
hallway in the Emporia Police Department, depicting equality and
justice for all.
His dream was realized last Friday when Emporia State University
art students put the finishing touches on a project they had been working on for a couple of weeks.
“It was something I had wanted
to do for a long time,” Cronk said.
“I wanted to do something thoughtprovoking for our officers. I wanted
to get them thinking how we need
to treat everybody equally and fairly.
Our officers are really excited about
the mural and I’ve had a lot of positive comments from them on it.”
Derek Wilkinson, associate professor of art at ESU, said the project
started when Cronk called the art
department chair with the idea for
the mural.
“Chief Cronk was curious about
the possibility of having some ESU
art students work together to paint
a mural,” Wilkinson said. “We talked
about it and were immediately interested. It was a great opportunity to
collaborate with the police department. One of our goals as a department is to get out in the community
and it happened to coincide when
our department was collaborating
with Rick Becker and Dave Lowenstein, the muralist, to do the mural
at Mulready’s.
“So that project was just start-
ing to gain momentum at the time.
There was a lot of interest from the
students about mural painting, but
some couldn’t fit a class into their
spring schedules. They weren’t able
to be involved in that project and this
one gave them another chance for
that opportunity.”
Cronk said he approached the art
department at ESU with a basic idea.
“My idea was, see no color—
love, respect, protect and serve all
equally,” he said. “I talked to Derek
on the phone about the different races, (we) wanted all of those colors in
the mural. I gave him those ideas and
Derek and his students took it from
there.”
Creative collaboration
Nine students contributed to the
design and worked on the project,
which did not come without its challenges. The first week was focused
on designing the mural and the second week was focused around the
painting of the mural.
“If we would have removed one
student from the class, this mural
would have turned out differently
because they each had a voice in the
creative process,” Wilkinson said.
“There was so much problem solving on the large scale because most
of the paintings or drawings they do
in class are much smaller. We had to
do so many preliminary drawings.
Students had to figure out how to
transfer something onto the wall so
Please see Mural, Page 3
Police Chief Scott Cronk had an idea for a mural to be painted
at the Emporia Police Department. He collaborated with
Emporia State University art students. The students painted
the mural during a summer class project under the direction
of Derek Wilkinson, associate professor of art at ESU.
A mural was painted in the hallway of the police department
to remind officers of their oath to protect and serve. The eyes
of a mural depict the meaning of seeing beyond color.
Mary Ann Redeker/Gazette
Well-being of Kansas children declines
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
The well-being of Kansas children has declined significantly in the last year, according
to the latest Kids Count Data Book released
last week by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
The Data Book ranks each state in child
well-being within four domains: economic
well-being, education, health and family and
community. Kansas ranks 19th overall, down
from 15th.
Children’s economic well-being has worsened with an increase in the number of children
whose parents lack secure employment. The report states there are 132,000 children living in
poverty in Kansas and 10,000 teenagers in the
state are not working and not in school.
There has been an increase in the number
of high school students graduating on time, according to the foundation. However, the number of children attending preschool has fallen.
Early childhood education is considered essential to learning success, yet 46,000 children in
the state are not attending preschool programs.
“Since 2011, Kansas has reduced early education funding and significantly weakened
the state safety net. This has been negatively
impacting children and families for years, but
we’re only just now starting to see the consequences due to a lag in the data,” Annie McKay, president and CEO of Kansas Action for
Children said. “What’s evident is that policy
choices of the post-recession years have eroded
the well-being of children and families in KanPlease see Children, Page 3
VOL. 124, NO. 308
Heath Samuels
appointed
interim sheriff
for Greenwood
County
By John Robinson
[email protected]
As Heath
Samuels assumes the title
of interim sheriff for Greenwood County,
he hopes citizens are able
to look past his
last name.
“I do like
Courtesy photo
the name reco g n i t i o n , ” Heath
Samuels, cur- Samuels is
rently a dep- set to become
uty with the interim sheriff
Lyon County of Greenwood
Sheriff ’s Of- County.
fice, said. “I
just don’t want
people to think I’m solely doing
this because my last name is
Samuels.”
The post is the fulfillment of
a life-long dream for Samuels,
whose great-grandfather was
the Chief of Police in Eureka
and both grandfather and
father served as the sheriffs of
Please see Samuels, Page 3