Get to Know the Liberty Bank Building Artists

23 Jan Get to Know the Liberty Bank Building Artists

Lisa Myers Bulmash

As the construction of Liberty Bank Building rolls along at 24th and Union, an equally ambitious effort is underway in studios and workshops to create the artwork that will help make the building feel like home. Al Doggett and Esther Ervin, project curators, have assembled an all-star team of artists from the community to contribute to the project.

To bring to life the story of the founders of Liberty Bank and the architect who designed it, they turned to Lisa Myers Bulmash, an accomplished mixed-media artist specializing in collage and altered books.

Myers Bulmash will be creating a set of unique, handcrafted collage portraits. Each book will be intricately layered with photos, symbols, images, and text—a rich narrative told though small details. “[Viewers] will understand that these are an artist’s conception of the founders of the bank and the architect. But one thing they might not be thinking about so much is how that building had to become a part of them, figuratively speaking, in order for it to become a part of reality,” says Myers Bulmash. “There were a lot of things that had to happen before you could walk into that building and deposit that check.”

Each portrait will feature a sand dollar embedded in a book niche.

The history of Liberty Bank offers fertile ground for creative imagination. For example, each portrait will feature a sand dollar embedded in a book niche. “I thought that it was an interesting metaphor for how the bank founders made this enterprise happen, but the entire time it was in existence it was still very fragile…I think of the Liberty Bank enterprise as something that had to be reshaped on a daily, monthly, yearly basis.”

The result will be a series of portraits that are equal parts art and meditative experience, something Myers Bulmash hopes future residents of the Liberty Bank Building can return to time and again. “The lovely part and hard part about a creative endeavor, is that once it’s in its home it’s not really yours anymore. I’m hoping the portraits are something people can live with and can spare a little bit of time during the week turning over why this might be relevant to them.”

You do not have to wait for the Liberty Bank Building to open to see Myers Bulmash’s work. Her first solo museum show, “You’re Not From Around Here, Are You?” is currently on display at the Northwest African-American Museum (NAAM). You can also learn more about her and her work on her website: www.lisamb.com.