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Artist's grandson comes to see mural
David J. Overmyer got a glimpse, for the first time, of his grandfather's work that is displayed locally during a visit to Fort Scott on Wednesday.
Overmyer, who is originally from Topeka and is on vacation from his job teaching in the training department of an oil company in Saudi Arabia, stopped in town to see a few of Fort Scott's sites and a mural painted in 1929 by his late grandfather of the same name (with the exception of the middle initial), David H. Overmyer.
"I've heard about them my whole life," Overmyer said of his grandfather's work, so he decided to travel to Fort Scott to get a look at the artwork during his time off.
The mural, which can be seen on the wall of the main courtroom on the third floor of the Bourbon County Courthouse, is the artist's version of Lady Justice, including balance scales, sword and a scenic background featuring various government buildings.
Overmyer said his grandfather's art is done in an art deco or art nouveau style and reminds many people of the work of Maxfield Parrish, an American painter and illustrator in the first half of the 20th century.
"He liked to use a lot of trees," he said.
Overmyer said his grandfather, who was born in 1890 in Topeka, studied in New York. After school, one of the elder Overmyer's jobs was as a teacher at Washburn University in Topeka. Overmyer said his grandfather also worked for Boeing.
"But he was an independent artist his whole life," Overmyer said.
Overmyer has fond memories of his grandfather, spending time with him and watching him paint.
"I remember talking with him a lot," he said. "He was 83 when he died. A lot of time was just painting or eating lunch in his studio house in Topeka. I remember smelling those oil-based paints."
The late Overmyer's work includes murals at Kansas State University and on the walls of Topeka High School, as well as several murals on the first floor rotunda of the Kansas State Capitol building. These murals depict various historical events in the state's history such as the Battle of Mine Creek, "Westward Ho," and "Coming of the Spaniards." Completed in 1953, the eight scenes are painted directly on the plaster walls.
Overmyer said when his grandfather was painting in the 1950s, he was often paid the same salary as someone who whitewashed walls.
When he looks at his grandfather's artwork now, Overmyer said he likes to try to think about what was happening and how society worked at the time the artwork was done. For instance, the Lady Justice mural was painted in 1929, years after World War I and several years before World War II, yet right at the onset of the Great Depression.
Overmyer said he was glad to be back in the U.S. and more specifically, Kansas. He works year-round in Saudi Arabia teaching young Saudis after they graduate from universities.
"It's nice to be back in Kansas; it's nice and green and there's lots of trees," he said. "I've traveled all over the world and America is the best (country)."
During his visit, Overmyer also stopped by some other locations in town, including the Fort Scott Post Office, where he viewed a large mural depicting covered wagons in Kansas (not painted by his grandfather) on display in an upper room of that building.
Overmyer said he has family currently live in the Topeka and Kansas City areas.