Oklahoma artist Rick Sinnett creates sunny poster design for OKC's 2024 Paseo Arts Festival
From Tulsa and El Reno to Pauls Valley and Norman, Rick Sinnett is probably best known for the colorful murals he has created along Route 66 in his home state.
"But this is where it all began: It was all pen and ink. Everything that I've painted was drawn, maybe 20 years before it was painted as a mural — with (me) never even thinking about painting a mural," Sinnett said, looking around at an exhibition of his modestly sized works on paper displayed inside the Paseo Arts and Creativity Center.
"It's good for it to be here in the Paseo ... since I've walked every street in this neighborhood extensively, in the snow and rain and sunshine."
Sinnett, who hails from Mustang, chose to play up the sunshine when he was tapped to design the official artwork for the 2024 Paseo Arts Festival.
A self-taught muralist, printmaker and curator, Sinnett is known for using bold lines, vibrant colors and repeated patterns in his works, which often incorporate mandalas and butterflies. For this year's official Paseo Arts Fest design, he fused many of his familiar trademarks with the historic Paseo Arts District's signature Spanish revival architecture.
"He was a huge get for us. Rick is really well known, and not just in our community, but all across the state. ... So, we knew that he'd be a popular artist," said Amanda Bleakley, executive director of the Paseo Arts Association, which produces the long-running festival.
"We love his artwork ... and felt very confident he would come up with a really beautiful art piece that we could use."
A long-running Memorial Day weekend tradition, the Paseo Arts Festival annually draws thousands of attendees by showcasing 90 visiting artists, plus dozens of neighborhood artists, along with 50-plus Oklahoma entertainers, numerous food and beverage vendors, children's activities, a free shuttle service and more.
Hours for the 2024 Paseo Arts Festival are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 25-26, with live music until 10 p.m., and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 27 in the Paseo Arts District, between NW 28 and Walker and NW 30 and Dewey. Admission is free.
How do Paseo Arts Festival merchandise sales help fund the Paseo Arts Association?
Although admission is free, the Paseo Arts Festival is the largest annual fundraiser for the Paseo Arts Association, supporting the nonprofit organization's year-round programming.
Festivalgoers can support the Paseo Arts Association by wetting their whistle at the official Paseo drink tents, and they can buy official T-shirts, posters and other merchandise, which this year will be emblazoned with Sinnett's sunny design.
"We want it to represent our community. We also want to sell posters and T-shirts. So, if we have a great piece of artwork, then it helps with that," Bleakley said. "We're also happy to bring him more into our fold."
In conjunction with the festival, additional works by Sinnett, who is also known as “Mothman," are on view through May 27 in Gallery III inside the Paseo Arts and Creativity Center, which will be open during the festival.
"Just to have the opportunity to do the poster, it was one of these milestones in my life and career, because I feel like Paseo is a part of me, since I was a little kid coming down here for the festivals and things," Sinnett said. "I had a booth and a festival in the '90s. ... I've been down here in the Paseo this time around for four years, but I've had pretty much an existence — sharing a studio space or something — since 1996."
How did the Paseo Arts Festival help Oklahoma artist Rick Sinnett get his start?
Born and raised in Oklahoma, Sinnett's early artistic endeavors took him to California, where he adopted the moniker "Mothman," as animals and natural elements were foundational to his compositions.
"As a youth, I wanted to move out to San Francisco as an artist, and it was like, 'Ooh, no, it's better in Oklahoma.' ... A lot of kids now are deciding to stay here because it's a great place to be," he said.
"The Paseo, it's a microcosm of what's going on in the world of art in Oklahoma. It's a boom town here. It just blows my mind. Hanging out in New York or the Bay Area ... there's nothing in comparison, coming from my perspective."
He said the Paseo Arts Festival provided an important launching pad for his career.
"The only time I've exhibited in the Paseo Arts Festival — and that may have been 1996 — I started with a clothing line, a T-shirt line, because I couldn't sell my art as art, as pen and inks. I only had about 10 pieces to my name — and I had no name," he said.
After he accidentally got into screenprinting, he was inspired to put his black-and-white pen-and-ink drawings on T-shirts that he could then sell for $20.
"So, that was the beginning, was a T-shirt stand up front at the Paseo Arts Festival," he said. That's what stemmed into being able to take it to paper, then being able to sell my pen and inks and then getting into printmaking."
How did Oklahoma artist Rick Sinnett become renowned for his murals?
Along with selling his prints and drawings, Sinnett began giving away his artworks in exchange for the recipient expressing kindness to others they might encounter. These exchanges became the basis for his “art for the people” approach, which has led him to creating “art drops” using social media — and often large helium-filled balloons — to give away prints.
In 2011, Sinnett also began extending his "art for the people" philosophy to murals, embarking on a mission to paint 11 giant murals along Route 66, most notably the 12,800-square-foot artwork on the Rocktown grain elevator near OKC's Bricktown. Titled “This Land,” the 100-foot-by-128-foot mural on the north side of the silo was completed in 2014.
Sinnett also helped paint the psychedelic large-scale works on the exterior of The Womb art gallery, opened by Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne in 2011 and transformed in 2019 into the headquarters for the OKC artist collective Factory Obscura, and created in 2019 the design for The Nature Conservancy of Oklahoma's "Save the Monarchs" license plate design.
Given the challenges in building a career as a working artist, Sinnett said achievements like getting picked to create the 2024 Paseo Arts Fest's featured artwork are validating.
"I was really going through a struggle in my life, and my car had broken down. I didn't have the money to fix it. I had some people kind enough to lend me the tools to fix it, so I'm watching YouTube videos. What would take a mechanic a few hours took me three days, but that was the only way I could make it work. So, I'm in Mustang working on it, and my phone rings," Sinnett recalled.
"I pulled the phone out, and it's the state Arts Council informing me that a piece of my art had been selected to be put in the permanent State Art Collection. There's no money there ... but it's like, 'OK, I'm on the right track.' That's how I felt about having the opportunity to do the poster this year: It's like a sign that you're doing what you're supposed to be doing."
47th PASEO ARTS FESTIVAL
When: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. May 25-26, with live music until 10 p.m., and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 27.
Where: Paseo Arts District, between NW 28 and Walker and NW 30 and Dewey.
'Mothman: Rick Sinnett' exhibit: Through May 27, Gallery III in Paseo Arts and Creativity Center, 3024 Paseo.
Admission: Free.
Information: https://www.thepaseo.org.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC artist Rick Sinnett creates poster for Paseo Arts Festival
