“Preserving History” by Norma Clark and Devon Clarkson, 2020

The “Preserving History” mural by Norma Clark and Devon Clarkson is located behind Georgetown City Hall and adjacent to the African American Shotgun House. This mural is funded in part by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts and represents a collaborative public art program involving the Georgetown Arts and Culture Program and the Georgetown Cultural Citizen Memorial Association, the nonprofit that manages the Shotgun House. For more information on the dedication, collaboration, and history behind the selection of the theme and artists for this mural, please click here.

Local artist Devon Clarkson created the “Mary Smith Bailey” portion of the mural.  Devon is a local professional portrait artist and the selected artist for the 20th Anniversary Red Poppy Festival poster.  His mural is a realistic representation of the local influential education advocate, Mary Smith Bailey, as well as local neighborhood churches and the original Marshall Carver School. Mary Smith Bailey was the founder of the first preschool for non-white children during the period of segregation. The school later became the Mary Bailey Head Start Center which is still in operation today and serves children of all backgrounds.

To view more of Devon Clarkson’s work, please click here.

Local artist and Southwestern University graduate Norma Clark created the “Shades of Progress” portion of the mural. Norma’s mural is represented with colorful, abstract imagery that is based on the people that live in the TRG (Track, Ridge and Grasshopper) neighborhood as well as people that attended the historic neighborhood school, Marshall Carver. The mural also reflects the community’s journey from segregation, integration, and changes to the neighborhood through urban renewal to the present day.

Norma Clark graduated from Southwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and received her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Vermont College of Norwich University. Norma is an abstract artist whose work is expressive, intuitive, and spontaneous. Process is a key part of her work and her objective is to create paintings that are visually engaging, contain ambiguities of space, color, form, and chaos. Her paintings are personal and are reflections of a range of internal emotions and complexities of life.

To view more of Norma Clark’s work, please click here.