Artist, Raymond Creasy, installs a mural at the Ozark Folk Center. The painting depicts White River transportation and is located in the Kid's Garden. Rae McKimm (seated) is the herb committee chair of the Committee of One Hundred, Tina Marie Wilcox (leaning into the mural) heads herbs at the Center and Jeanette Larson is the crafts director. Funding for the mural was provided by the Committee of One Hundred for the Ozark Folk Center, the Ozark Unit of the National Herb Society, and an anonymous donor.
Creasy paints in a representational style that depicts the beauty of nature while respecting the people who carved a living from the countryside. The mural consists of four 4' x 8' panels painted in Creasy's studio using oils. Colors that were common in the historical time period were used for the mural. The mural depicts a time period between the late 1890s and 1915 and extensive research, by Sue Lukens and Raymond Creasy, provided historical accuracy for the project. Transportation methods include keelboat, steam boat, ferry, and train. The photograph, below, depicts the paddle boat Ozark Queen at Batesville Landing in 1896.
Keelboats were common on Arkansas rivers as they could traverse shallow waters and reach isolated areas that were inaccessible to large steamboats. The M&NA, Missouri and North Arkansas Railroad, ran between Joplin, Missouri, and Helena, Arkansas, from 1906 to 1946. Ferries were a common way to cross the White River and still in use in the late 1980s.
Entry based on information provided by Sue Lukens.
The Committee of One Hundred Tribute Wall recognizes contributions to the preservation of Ozark folk culture.
If you would like to help preserve the folk culture of the Ozarks, consider a
The Committee is made up entirely of volunteers so, except for transaction fees, all of your donation funds music, craft, or the herb gardens and, as a 501c3 entity
your donation is tax deductible!
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