We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aaron Horrell and Barb Bailey. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aaron Horrell and below.
Hi Aaron Horrell and, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The Missouri Bicentennial Mural is our most meaningful project to date. It was a 3 1/2 year project, beginning at its inception in June 2018 to its installation on a wall inside the Harry S Truman Building in Jefferson City, Missouri, in May 2022.
Aaron came up with “Paint For A Cause” in the spring of 2015. His idea was to give visitors to his Painted Wren Art Gallery an easy way to get involved in art and to raise money for local charitable organizations. For the first few years, Aaron had a drawing printed on a stretched canvas. Then visitors to the gallery were invited to donate $1 and paint on the canvas. Aaron or I (Barb) would put acrylic paint on a small paint brush and the visitor would paint a small area on the canvas. We kept a journal with the names and towns of the painters. The money raised, the completed canvas, and the journal were given to the charity. We held “Paint For A Cause” for several organizations from 2015 to the present. Little did we know that these projects were preparing us for our biggest art project ever.
Fast forward to the summer of 2018. Aaron saw a newspaper article about our state of Missouri’s upcoming bicentennial in 2021. The state Bicentennial Coordinator was looking for projects that communities around the state were planning for the celebration. Aaron asked me what I thought about doing a large “Paint for A Cause” for Missouri’s Bicentennial. I told him that if money was no object, I knew we could do it. In that newspaper article was a phone number for Missouri’s Bicentennial Coordinator. So Aaron called and talked to him. The Coordinator was planning to be in Cape Girardeau, where Painted Wren Art Gallery is located, the next week and set a time to come to the gallery and talk more. When he visited with us, we told him about our idea to do a large mural for the Bicentennial. We would take this mural around the state, getting as many people as possible to paint. We didn’t know yet what would be on the mural, but the coordinator loved this idea and told us it was exactly what he was looking for, a project that would involved as many people as possible. We wanted this mural to be a birthday gift to the State of Missouri from the people of Missouri. Because of that, we did not charge people to paint. Anyone, any age, and any ability were welcome to participate.
It the beginning, it was very difficult getting this project off the ground. First we had to decide what to put on the mural, how big it would be, and where the mural would hang once finished. Months of phone calls ensued. There were ups and downs, and Aaron and I talked and talked about how we were going to do this project. We decided the mural would include most, but not all of Missouri’s state symbols. It would be 12 feet tall and 30 feet long, but in 15 pieces measuring 4 feet by 6 feet each. It’s home would be inside the Harry S Truman Building in Jefferson City. Instead of canvas, we had the images printed on an aluminum composite material because it was lightweight and easy to carry in the back of Aaron’s pickup truck. We had a 2-inch square grid put over the images. Then Aaron and I painted diagonal lines in all the squares because the printer wasn’t able to do it. We wanted as many people as possible to participate in this project. Like all of our “Paint For A Causes”, Aaron or I would put paint on the brush and painters would paint one triangle. Again, we kept a journal of names, ages, job titles, and towns of the painters.
The state Bicentennial Coordinator shared contact names and phone numbers so we could schedule visits to communities. I did internet searches for events that we might attend. We traveled to quite a few towns, before Covid-19 reared its ugly head. All of our events from the middle of March 2020 through September 2020 were canceled. We needed to finish this mural by the Bicentennial Celebration date of August 10, 2021. So in the Spring of 2021, we began calling local schools in the Southeast Missouri area to ask if we could bring this historic painting to their schools so the students, faculty, and staff could participate.
Despite so many events being canceled, 16,116 Missourians and visitors to our great state painted this mural. The Missouri Bicentennial Mural surpassed the Guinness World record for the most people to paint a painting by more than 2,000 painters.
One thing about this project that Aaron is particularly proud of is that the St. Louis Gateway Arch became a Missouri state symbol— the Man-made Monument. We knew that the Arch wasn’t a state symbol, so he asked our teacher/contact at the Lincoln Intermediate School in Farmington if she would check with her State Representative about how to make it happen. It took some time, but the week after the Bicentennial Day celebration, it was official.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Aaron Horrell: I grew up on a small family farm in rural Southeast Missouri. Growing up on a farm, there were always chores to do and no time for being an artist; but I hid in my room upstairs and drew pictures when I could. There are no painters in my family tree. I am a self-taught artist and the only art class I took was my senior year in high school, where I became known as the school artist.
Before graduating from high school, I applied for a scholarship to the Art Institute of Cincinnati. Can you believe that I was denied admittance because my graduating class had only 15 students? After my rejection, I sent them a letter informing them that if they lived long enough, they would hear about me and my art. This has been a great incentive for me to be a creative artist, even though I knew I had to do it as a self-taught artist.
I received a draft notice after graduating high school in 1970. A few days later, I joined the US Navy. While in the service I painted murals on some chow hall walls and gave away dozens of my paintings to fellow servicemen.
After my military discharge in 1975, I continued to paint pictures. I entered my paintings in several competitions, winning awards in Buffalo, New York; Montreal, Canada; and Nags Head, North Carolina, as well as several in and around the Cape Girardeau area. In 2009, I joined a group of ten artists and we opened an art gallery in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. I was the only artist whose work was selling consistently. Two years later I was the only remaining artist and my dream of having my own art gallery came true.
In 2014 a fellow artist named Barb Bailey joined the Painted Wren Art Gallery. We soon developed a style of painting together, passing paintings back and forth, as we each added our brush strokes. To date, we have painted over 400 miniature paintings. We continue to paint together and it has evolved into writing and illustrating children’s books. We have self-published 16 children’s books and are currently working on a 5-Volume series about a dog who flies a helicopter and her friend.
Barb Bailey: I also grew up on a farm in rural Southeast Missouri. When I started school, art was my favorite class, every year! In my spare time, I liked draw pictures, read, and crochet. My mother encouraged me to think about a job I could make a living at, so I became a secretary. Art fell by the wayside.
In 2004 or 2005, I began making goat milk soap, which I sold at local farmers markets and craft shows. At one such event, I met two mosaic artists who invited me to sell my soap at their new art studio, which was across the hall from Aaron’s Painted Wren Art Gallery. When their studio closed, Aaron invited me to join his gallery, so I moved my soaps to his business. I wanted to get back to art and was taking an on-going art class at the local university. I used to show him what I was working on in that class. We started painting together–colorful, whimsical little paintings and I decided to quit the art class. I helped Aaron with the “Paint For A Cause” projects and like he said above, we began writing and illustrating children’s books.
I think what sets our art work apart from other artists is the fact that we paint together. Most artists are very independent and don’t want other artists “messing” with their work. I’ve learned a lot and continue learning every time I paint. Aaron usually starts the painting, and then we take turns adding our brush strokes. There’s no set time for how long we paint before switching. Could be a couple hours, could be the next day. One thing is for sure, the paintings always look great when they are finished
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Aaron: When I was in the military, my main job was to lay concrete blocks and help construct hospitals. I learned the trade and when I got out of the service, I took a job with a bricklaying crew. The heavy lifting caused a problem with my back. I knew I could no longer work as a bricklayer and continue seeing a chiropractor every weekend. I took a job on a dairy farm where there was lots of heavy lifting to contend with also. I had back surgery at the age of 42. The surgeon told me my spinal cord had been cut almost in two! He gave me a 50% chance of surviving the operation. I survived! But I knew I could no longer do a job requiring heavy lifting. I had to do something else. Art was staring me in the face. I spent 6 months in bed recuperating and finally taught myself how to walk again. It was a miracle for me! At the time, I was married with 4 small children. I’ve always painted late at night, even while working other jobs, and now it seemed that there would be more time for painting throughout the day. This was a major pivoting point in my life. Laborious work was about to take a second seat. Art became more and more important to me.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Barb: The most rewarding aspect of being an artist was the accomplishment of The Missouri Bicentennial Mural project. I don’t know right now what we could do that would top that. I’m really proud to have been a part of a project that touched so many lives. Aaron and I met tons of nice people across Missouri.
With our children’s books, it’s very rewarding to see children, after looking at our books, begging to take one or two home with them. The adults always comment on our beautiful artwork. I like it because that means what we hoped to accomplish with our stories is happening. Now we’d like to get the word out about our books across the US. To accomplish this, we are currently working on a 5-Volume series that involves all 50 states.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amazon.com/author/barbbailey.aronhorrell ; https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/barb-bailey
- Instagram: painted_wren_art_gallery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Alison.Barbaron ; https://www.facebook.com/PaintedWrenArtGallery ; https://www.facebook.com/Barb.Aron.minis ; https://www.facebook.com/MissouriBicentennialPaintForACause
Image Credits
Photos by Aaron Horrell and Barb Bailey