photo by: Mike Yoder

The prairie fire mural on the side of Mass Street Music is shown nearly complete Sunday, with some finishing touches yet to be added by artist Louis Copt.

As the trend of mural painting blazes across Kansas, another local business is now adorned with a banner of color — this one depicting an actual prairie fire.

Local artist Louis Copt collaborated with Kansas City muralists Isaac Tapia and Rico Alvarez, of IT-RA Icons, on the project at Mass Street Music, 1347 Massachusetts St.

“Mural painting gives me an opportunity to work really large,” Copt says. “It’s fun to collaborate with other artists, and it allows me to share my art with more people. Everybody doesn’t go into a gallery … but they all drive by that wall.”

photo by: Louis Copt

The fire mural, based on a painting by Louis Copt, as it began to take shape Friday evening on the side of Mass Street Music.

Copt primarily works with oil and canvas, but he has painted murals before. In 2003, he and crop artist Stan Herd collaborated on a mural depicting a late-spring scene of the Flint Hills for a wall in Emporia. That mural was 40 by 70 feet; the Mass Street one is quite a bit smaller at 10 feet high and 20 feet long.

Copt hunted for the best spot for his mural. Driving downtown, he eventually spotted Mass Street Music, which he thought would be ideal. He asked Jim Baggett, who has owned the building since 1982, if he could paint on it, and Baggett was all in.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Spray paint cans sit at the feet of a muralist working on the south side of Mass Street Music, 1347 Massachusetts St., Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. A pair of Kansas City muralists, Rico Alvarez and Isaac Tapia, with Lawrence artist Louis Copt are painting the 10-by-20-foot mural based on a Copt painting.

“Anything to bring attention to downtown is good,” Baggett says. “Lawrence is really growing a lot in the suburbs, and sometimes people forget what a diverse and vibrant downtown we have. (The mural) adds to that, and I’m excited.”

Copt says that in his experience, people in Lawrence embrace, encourage and support art, which made the process of seeking city approval for the project easier.

“It’s nice to live in a community where art is appreciated,” he says. “Part of the process of this is you have to apply to the city to get permission to do the mural, which I think is a good thing. You’re not putting something up there and saying ‘Surprise!’ I had to get letters of support.”

Kansas City muralist Isaac Tapia spray-paints flames of fire on a Flint Hills sunset prairie scene on the south side of Mass Street Music, 1347 Massachusetts St., on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. The mural is a rendition of a painting by Lawrence artist Louis Copt.

Among the letters of support was one written by Jackie Stafford, a seventh-grade teacher at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School.

“I have a view of Mass Street (in my classroom), and (my students) all know this is happening and are excited,” Stafford says.

She says Copt’s request to paint the mural on a building across from her classroom was serendipitous: Stafford teaches an annual lesson on murals and the value they add to communities based on a story called “The War of the Wall.”

“It’s perfect … we always look at murals when we read this story,” Stafford says. “I ask what murals they’ve seen downtown, and we talk about murals as a piece of social justice … how they can celebrate or memorialize.”

Copt says the mural on Mass Street celebrates part of Kansas’ cultural heritage.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A mural depicting a Flint Hills sunset during a prairie burn is painted on the south side of Mass Street Music, 1347 Massachusetts St., by muralists Rico Alvarez, far left, and Isaac Tapia, third from left, Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. The mural is a rendition of a painting by Lawrence artist Louis Copt, second from left.

“The prairie fire is part of our cultural heritage and I think it’s good to bring that into an urban setting so you stay connected with the land,” he says. “We see buildings and concrete and asphalt all the time, and we need to stay connected with nature.”

Depending on sunlight damage, the mural could last 10 years or more, and Copt says there’s always the opportunity to come and touch things up.

Stafford and her seventh graders could be gazing at the mural for more than a decade — a thought she finds pleasing.

“I’m really excited to have a piece of public art right outside of our school,” she says.