FRESH PAINT: OKC NYE WINNER

Verdean Thompson Johnson

Verdean Thompson Johnson is a graduate of Douglass High School in Oklahoma City. In high school, Johnson participated in the Artspace at Untitled Mentorship Program where he received the 2019 Outstanding Senior Award. After graduation, Johnson shadowed the Oklahoma City Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs as it sought to commission a mural for the Strong Neighborhood Initiative’s Culbertson East Highland neighborhood project. Johnson later became an assistance to Markus Muse as he painted the mural ROYAL TONES on the Jeltz Senior Living Center in Oklahoma City. He is also a past recipient of Neighborhood Alliance’s Scout Finch Award for working to improve and beautify neighborhoods.

THE FINALISTS

Jasmine Jones

Jasmine Jones is a multidisciplinary artist and maker from Midwest City. With an Associate degree in Arts from Rose State College and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from the University of Oklahoma. In her art, she traverses through various ideas, methods and materials. With a form of familiarity and the everyday, Jones is constantly integrating areas of her life into her artwork while working with concepts like spirituality, therapy and interaction. Jones is a member of two artist collectives – Art Group and Factory Obscura. Jones appreciates working collaboratively to show that art can be interactive, immersive and beneficial.

Shakurah Maynard

Shakurah Maynard is a Graphic Designer from Atlanta, Georgia, where she grew up in an untraditional home with convert Muslim parents and several siblings. As a student at Oklahoma City University, Shakurah focused on broadening her skills into digital applications. Maynard is a bright new face in the growing Oklahoma City art scene where she was the recipient of the Norick Art Endowment Scholarship and a two-time recipient of the Brunel Faris Art Exploration Scholarship. Maynard showed in the 2017 edition of Symbiotic, a collaborative art show focusing on the purpose of art in the community and has worked with Oklahoma Contemporary creating work with artists like Brooke Rowlands. Maynard now owns a small design company, helping small businesses create impactful brand Identity.

Anthony Brock

Anthony Brock, AKA Summerkamps, is an emerging artist who was born and raised in Oklahoma City. Introduced to art by his grandmother, Brock continues to grow as a self-taught artist. Working primarily with acrylic paints, his work includes themes of spirituality and history. His paintings have been exhibited at Bombs Away in the Plaza District of OKC, and he recently completed a collaborative fence mural at Plaza Walls. Brock also creates music filled with a sense of humor and inspirational positivity and has performed in various venues in the OKC Metro, including the Norman Music Festival.

Jessie Kay Shelton

Jessie Kay Shelton currently attends Classen School of Advanced Studies at Northeast High School in Oklahoma City and has grown up in an artful home where she began to draw at age four. Her mother practiced wood-burning arts and encouraged Jessie Kay to expand her talent and to pursue a creative career. Shelton studies Manga arts, however most of her creative work centers on faces. Her goal is to pursue a career in graphic design or to become a full-time artist.

MENTOR BIOS

Ebony Iman Dallas

Ebony Iman Dallas is a storyteller, painter, muralist and founder of Afrikanation Artists Organization. Inspired by travel and individual tales of resilience, Iman paints to encourage hope in others while amplifying voices through representation.

Dylan Bradway

Dylan Bradway is a conceptual mural artist and is the Vice President for the Oklahoma Mural Syndicate. With over 16 murals displayed in the past seven years throughout Oklahoma City, Bradway is easily a changemaker within the mural space of our community.

ABOUT FRESH PAINT

FRESH PAINT: OKC NYE identifies creative and aspiring artists, preparing them to launch their career in making and commissioning public art murals. With the goal of diversity and representation of artists that are young, Black, Indigenous and people of color, five artists ages 18-25 were selected and paired with two established and accomplished mural artist mentors, Ebony Iman Dallas and Dylan Bradway.

The mentors will assist the young artists in developing an 8' by 8' mural, including:

  • Developing concepts and artist statements about the proposed work
  • Developing material lists and quantities
  • Preparation of the mural frames and surfaces for painting
  • Applying the design to the surface and completing the mural

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