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Red and yellow, black and white

An artist completes a church project with one specific instruction: Make the kids in the nursery's mural reflect different cultures.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published May 10, 2006

The backdrop is of blue skies, whisper-soft clouds and rolling meadows. Center stage are children who are white and different shades of brown with a smiling Jesus. He, like most of the children, is dark skinned.

The mural in the predominantly African-American church's new nursery is meant to convey Jesus' love, but church leaders wanted the painting to teach children another important lesson, as well.

"Very specifically,'' said artist Cathleen Schott, "They said, 'We want to make sure it's not all black children.' ''

Lisa Davis, who sits on St. Mark's nursery committee with her husband, Gregory, said members wanted the work to reflect the church's philosophy. "Our pastor always teaches about diversity and how we should include everyone,'' she said. "It's just unfortunate that churches are segregated to some extent.''

The Rev. Brian Brown, 34, who has been at the church for 11 years, said St. Mark's mission is to serve everyone. "We recognize that the community that we live in is a diverse one and certainly that the world we live in is diverse,'' he said. "We wanted the young people who are going to be in that room to recognize the fact that though we may be African-American, that we are all precious in the sight of God and that God created a rainbow of people.''

As Schott paused from her work one day last week, the paint-spattered artist talked about how the work has evolved over the past few months. As a model of what they wanted, church leaders gave her a traditional picture of Jesus surrounded by followers, she said. But, Schott said, the church wanted a few key changes. Jesus should be dark skinned and surrounded by children in modern-day clothing, they said. The children, they instructed, should represent different cultures.

Schott turned to the Internet and libraries to research what Jesus might have looked like. For models of the children, she canvassed the surrounding neighborhood.

Last week, photographs of a brother and sister who live near the church were taped to a second, smaller 9- by 6-foot mural she was finishing in the nursery. The likeness of the little girl, with her profusion of decorated braids, appears in both murals. A little girl with blond hair, who also can be seen in both works, is based on a photograph of Schott's adult daughter as a little girl.

The nursery is part of a 10,200-square-foot addition to the church at 1301 37th St. S, said Gregory Davis, chairman of the construction project. He said the murals, which cost about $2,300, were paid for by an anonymous donor, but suspects that his brother, St. Petersburg deputy mayor Goliath Davis, is the mystery benefactor.

"I went to him and told him of my plight and what we wanted to do,'' Gregory Davis said. "He wouldn't admit it, but that's my best guess. We have been members of the church since we were babies.''

Goliath Davis would not confirm that he paid for the work. "If it's an anonymous donor, then it's anonymous,'' he said.

Schott, 46, said she had been contacted directly by the person who paid for her work and sworn to secrecy.

A graduate of Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Schott's work can also be seen at Morton Plant Hospital, Red Mesa and Pepins restaurants, preschools, doctors' offices, and in homes throughout the Tampa Bay area. Her husband, Robert, also is an artist.

Schott said she has a knack for making her work "friendly and soft.'' One day she arrived in St. Mark's new nursery and noticed blue accent tiles had been added as part of the new floor. She decided that the sky in the mural had to match the tiles.

"I adjusted the sky and put the clouds in,'' she said. "I wanted it to look like a glorious and really uplifting day, and I think the sky depicts that.''

She deliberately made a few of the children in the life-size painting look out into the nursery that will serve little ones from birth to 5 years old.

"I wanted it to be an interactive experience for them,'' she said. "I really can't wait to come one Sunday and see the children in here.''

[Last modified May 10, 2006, 07:30:07]