The first thing that most customers notice upon entering our store, besides our vast selection of Birkenstock footwear of course, are the 12-foot-tall agricultural themed murals which surround them as they shop. The question frequently pops up; what's the story behind the murals?
Here you go. My first real exposure to art as a child came from intermittent visits to the Wichita Art Museum. One of their signature pieces was "Kansas Cornfield" painted by fellow Kansan, John Steuart Curry. That painting was made from studies of his father's cornfield, which interestingly would have been located about 25 miles north of our store. It is not just a painting of corn stalks though. It is a deliberate depiction of hope, strength and abundance in the midst of the psychological doldrums of the Great Depression. The painting was created in 1939, while Curry was painting the "Tragic Prelude" mural in the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka.
The cornfield image was intended to make its way onto the walls of the Statehouse, but bickering with state legislators brought that project to an abrupt close. At that time, an art collection was just getting started in Wichita. The widow of Roland P. Murdock, Elizabeth Louise Murdock, had a sizable fortune from the Wichita Eagle Newspaper to dispense. Mrs. Murdock enlisted the aid of Elizabeth S. Navas, an art patron in New York City, to help her acquire a fabulous art collection for the city of Wichita. The "Kansas Cornfield" was the first piece acquired for the future Roland P. Murdock collection, which became the foundation for the Wichita Art Museum.
As a kid, I frequently stared at that painting and wondered. A couple decades later and 25 years ago, we remodeled our storefront. We had fresh hand-plastered walls. The question was: What color should the blank walls be painted? As I stared at that bare white wall, my childhood wonder returned. What if we could allow those walls to receive John Steuart Curry's image at something closer to his intended scale, much larger than the smaller canvas study? A retail space should be a positive space, a hopeful space. Have a sense of abundance. Our murals, in a quiet manner, do just that, thanks to the skill and talent of Missy McCoy. Missy had done a variety of murals in town. We had known each other for years. I was thrilled when she accepted the challenge. Customers loved watching her effortlessly apply her brush against the plaster. The project proceeded off and on for three and a half years. We are most appreciative to work within her artistry.
Take a walk with Birkenstock.
