New Neosho mural honors native son Thomas Hart Benton
Oct. 19—NEOSHO, Mo. — A new mural honoring native son Thomas Hart Benton was installed earlier this week on the north side of Neosho City Hall.
Titled "A Social History of Thomas Hart Benton," it was painted on panels by Neosho artist Jared Jennings, who said he was inspired by a trip his fifth grade class took years ago to the Missouri Capitol in Jefferson City, where he first saw Benton's "A Social History of the State of Missouri."
"I didn't really pay any attention to what anybody was saying," Jennings said. "I was just hung up on the paintings in that room."
After receiving both his undergraduate and master's degree, he approached the Neosho Arts Council with the mural proposal.
"They liked the idea of doing a tribute to this Neosho native, this muralist," he said.
"We are so excited to not only bring another public art work to our community but to also honor this world-renowned artist who called Neosho home," Sarah Serio, president of Neosho Arts Council, said in a statement. The Neosho Arts Council sponsored creation of the new mural.
Benton was born in 1889 in Neosho.
The mural features an older Benton at work painting. One of the dominant elements in the painting is a train with the number 75, which Jennings said plays off the euphemism "when my train comes in" to refer to Benton's death in 1975.
There's also a black horse racing beside a recently plowed field, and Jennings said he was inspired by a Benton painting titled "Plowing it Under," which is at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, and also to Benton being a "dark horse," meaning his family wanted him to pursue a career in politics and law rather than art, but he defied them even though it led to an estranged relationship with his father.
"One of the really fascinating elements that Jared included in this mural is the tree and grass on the right," Serio said. "In spots it's a red-brown color. This was done on purpose to reference the maquette, or small clay models, that Benton sculpted and painted and then used as reference designs for his murals."
"I really wanted the mural to feel like something he would have done himself," Jennings added.
The Neosho Arts Council is working on a descriptive audio guide for the mural.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the mural will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14, by the Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce.
During his 1962 visit, Benton gave 12 original lithographs to Neosho, Serio said. They are on display in the lobby of Neosho City Hall. The Neosho Arts Council has produced a guide to give a background on each piece, plus it explains what a lithograph is and how one is made.
The public can also view a second mural located inside Neosho City Hall. "Flower Box City" was painted in 2008 by Benton's grandson, Anthony Benton Gude. The mural features scenes from Neosho during the first half of the 1900s, including Benton's arrival in Neosho by train in 1962 for Thomas Hart Benton Day.
