KZYX&Z’s Be More Now Welcomes community muralist Lauren Sinnott

Tune into KZYX&Z’s Be More Now show at 7pm on Thursday, May 5 when host Blake More will interview Mendocino County muralist Lauren Sinnott. They will be discussing her recently completed “Community History Mural” covering an entire block of Ukiah, including the inspirations and challenges of such a project as well as the official unveiling scheduled for Friday, May 6. The show originally airs on KZYX&Z 90.7FM Philo, 88.1FM Fort Bragg, and 91.5FM Willits, as well as streams live on the web www.kzyx.org.  

A resident of the southern Mendocino coast since 1998, Lauren Sinnott is a working artist in an old-world manner: She paints pictures that are full of pattern and decoration, but also tell stories, often with portraits. In her words, “I make things that regular people need, like business signs, logos, and even a high school mascot on the basketball court floor. I learned to sew from my mom and grandma, which is very useful now, not just to make my own clothes and create the Velvet Vulva line of purses, but also to hem pants and take prom dresses in. That’s also something people need.”

She grew up in Wisconsin’s dairyland, in a creative, beatnik home. Her mom was an artist and illustrator and she copied her from before she was 2. An exchange year abroad in Belgium shaped her – “there really is good coffee in the world! And houses that are 400 years old.” At Rice University in Houston she got the training necessary to shape talent, in painting, but also art history. Her masters degree focused on the Renaissance and exposed her to art that was full of meaning, held symbols, had inscriptions, and told stories that people with a shared culture understood. That’s what she aims for now, using her sons and the people around me to populate the painted stage.

The block-long history mural is the culmination of all this. It has 26 panels arranged chronologically, each devoted to a major theme. Within each panel are multiple interwoven scenes, all set against a continuous backdrop of nature. Over 200 portraits, mostly human, but also 3 wolves, 5 dogs, 2 cats, a bull, and 1 duck. You can see the whole project at www.historymural.com

Here’s the conversation I had with Lauren earlier this week:

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This show originally airs at 7pm Thursday May 5, 2022 on KZYX&Z 90.7FM Philo, 88.1FM Fort Bragg, and 91.5FM Willits, as well as streams on the web www.kzyx.org. 

Listen to a replay here when it is available.