Editor’s Note: This post is written by a member of LTV’s sponsored content team, The Leisure Explorers. Do you own a Leisure Travel Van and enjoy writing? Learn more about joining the team.
Nestled in the heart of the Ouachita (pronounced watch-a-TAW) Mountains, not far off I-30, Hot Springs, Arkansas, offers picture-postcard views of an area with many historical, outdoor, and cultural adventures. Of course, the town’s namesake, the natural thermal springs, has been drawing visitors for centuries.
But we won’t suggest what to see and do in Hot Springs. Instead, we’ll commend you to a sight you won’t find in any tour guides or maps of the city: The Venus of the Springs Mural in downtown Hot Springs. If you stop to see this work, you might also explore the town.
The Joy Wandering Travel
As we all know, travel by wandering around can reveal an unsung or somewhat unknown attraction not found in any tour guides, maps, or destination stories online. Discoveries of this nature can create vivid and lasting memories of a destination.
As luck would have it, a jaunt off I-30 into Hot Springs took us to the post office. The only available parking space was at the rear of the building. Upon entry to the parking lot, we drove smack-dab into workers on ladders, laying out The Venus of the Springs Mural on the backside of the building.
This discovery brought us a double dose of luck. The artist and the owner of the artwork were on site to direct the composition. This circumstance is akin to pure gold for a travel writer—a chance to get the back story behind a work in progress. We took immediate advantage of our good fortune by hopping out of our vehicle with cameras and recorders to snap photos and talk with the artist and the owner.
The Artist’s Perspective
California Artist Patrick Cunningham tells us he sold a small painting to the building’s owner, Thomas Nagin. Thomas liked the work so much that he hired Patrick to replicate it as a mural on the back of his building, which houses the post office at Karicole Plaza in downtown Hot Springs.
The artwork is presented as a mural with some sculpture-like features on the building. Patrick tells us his work stems from inspiration grounded in the past.
” … I’m a big book collector and like to study the old masters. So, I thought it would be interesting to do an old master-like work to display the dichotomy of contemporary art with an old master theme, a juxtaposition of the two. The works of the 16th-century Italian painter Titian inspired me to create the face (of “Venus”). The swirls of the work are from ancient petroglyphs that symbolize water…”
Patrick tells us the name of this artwork, The Venus of the Springs, stems from notions in Roman mythology that Venus was created or born from the ocean. With the origins of her birth in mind, you’ll see a big seashell on another area of the building — it’s just around the corner from the main work on the back of the building.
Patrick describes his work as “… really a mosaic more than it is a mural…”.
You can learn more about Patrick and his lifetime achievements as an artist here.
The Owner’s Perspective
The Venus of the Springs painting lies on the ground leaning against the wall of the building on the backside of Karicole Plaza as we speak to its owner, Thomas Nagin. Thomas tells us Patrick created the painting for his wife, stating: ” … Patrick is into symbolism in his works, and we felt a connection to this particular work. We liked it so much I asked Patrick if he could replicate it on a building…”.
Thomas tells us that the face [in the mural] is influenced by the 16th-century Italian painter Titian. The gold leaf is a symbol of inspiration for Thomas and his wife. Thomas says “… My wife and I run a mining and jewelry company, and we’ve traveled all over the world, especially to South America, in connection with our work. The gold leaf on display in buildings in South America is a memory and inspiration for us, and this work is a connection for us to our work and our life. My wife uses gold leaf on works in our studio…”.
You can find out more about Thomas and his lifetime adventures in the mining and jewelry business here.
How To Find The Mural
You’ll find this artwork just across the street from the Visitors Center in downtown Hot Springs and diagonally opposite the Visitors Center at the post office building between Route 7 and Exchange Street. The back of the post office building is on the Exchange Street side of the building at Karicole Plaza.
Up Next
We have a collection of Street Art from dozens of countries that stems from years of travel worldwide. There’s a story behind every work at each locale that is as unique as the work itself. Stay with us here on the LTV blog as we post new stories about other unique works we find with our LTV that may quench the explorer in you as you wander around. If street art interests you, check out our story about what is in store when you visit Vancouver, British Columbia.
P.S. You’ll find other interesting murals in Hot Springs, such as the one on display below.
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