Lakeside student’s artwork planned for Webb Center mural

Artist Giuseppe Percivati of Turin, Italy, creator of the Quapaw Indian and Garvan Woodland Gardens murals in downtown Hot Springs, has selected an art piece from Rayshaun McNary, a Lakeside High School senior, for his latest work on a wall of the Webb Community Center.

McNary said he believes that his pop art and grunge style artwork can “help bring down racism” and work toward peace. At the age of 10, McNary began experimenting with different computer programs to create digital portraits of people of all races.

“I focus on the identity of a person. People don’t realize they can be a different person than what stereotype has been placed on them. When you see a person I create, despite their color, you decide how you feel about them,” McNary said.

McNary said his portraits typically feature halos on the models, representing the young people that have lost their lives due to police brutality, or crosses on the eyes, which allows the observer interpret the art.

“In a lot of the portraits, I put a flower over the mouth. To me, this means peace and beauty. When it’s placed over their mouth it represents spreading peace,” he said.

After traveling throughout the U.S. with his family and attending Ourtown, a three-day diversity camp in Little Rock, he said he learned how all people from different faiths and cultural backgrounds can get along.

McNary said that although he has encountered people using racial slurs aimed at him, he believes that his work will help to achieve unity and hopes to inspire others to use their creativity.

“In this day and time, there is so much negativity. I hope this community can continue to be more diverse, which gives people courage to take a stand. If you can be courageous as you can, I believe that we can all make a change,” he said.

McNary said he was screaming with excitement when he found out that Percivati, or “Pepe” as he refers to him, chose a piece of his work to collaborate for the mural.

“I think he is young and his skills mainly involve the computer. This will be a good opportunity to teach him how to paint and really use his hands,” Percivati said.

McNary said he was amazed at the process of turning his digital art into a mural. He recently featured his work at Arts & The Park and plans to continue his career by attending a two-year art tech program focusing on graphic design through National Park College.