About the Mural

George F. Johnson had a shoe factory which made every pair of boots for the soldiers in World War One. They were also the largest manufacturer through the Vietnam War. 

He had a factory and was a businessman, but he was also kind of a socialist who took care of his employees and basically built the entire town. Employees had access to affordable housing, Johnson would build the houses and sell them to employees at cost. Employees also had free medical care and all sorts of other benefits. You can see why everyone loved him. And in my eyes, this is just a really rare story in capitalism. Could you imagine if all of the billionaires of today actually shared their wealth?! Imagine how much better everyone’s lives would be.

I have also had this experience of stories finding me, from the same time period as the photos. I’ve been using these types of photos as inspiration since I was 22 years old. Painting George F. Johnson was a no brainer. 

As far as the design goes I repeated the “Warhol” squares which I have used in several murals, but also took the shape in the center from the Susquehanna River, and filled it with some of my signature abstraction I typically use in studio work. Throughout some of the mural I have stenciled the phrase “Home Of The Square Deal” – one of George F. Johnson’s slogans (that actually influenced Roosevelt’s “New Deal”). The other phrase stenciled throughout the design is “Men Of Vision” – the owners of the building had done some research on the history of the building, which used to house an optometrist. The owners had collected several ads which used this phrase. Not only do I like the phrase I also think it fits well with George F. Johnson. 

Watch a time lapse of the mural being created here.