26 Thursday, August 22, 2024 BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.com
SHELLY KEHRLE-SULSER
Executive Editor
The veil dropped on “A Day of
Pure Joy” by Haitian artist, Iris
Geneviève Lahens after an Aug.
14 countdown at the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation headquarters in down-
town Battle Creek.
The small crowd of Color the
Creek attendees and WKKF employ-
ees broke into applause upon see-
ing the new mural above the front
entrance to the downtown Battle
Creek building.
“To have a mural represent-
ing children and families,” said
WKKF President and CEO LaJune
Montgomery-Tabron, “truly reflects
what we are all about at the W.K.
Kellogg Foundation and this one
particularly from Haiti is just special
because we don’t want anyone to
forget about the children and fami-
lies in Haiti or anywhere else in the
world so we’re just honored to repre-
sent that legacy in front of our build-
ing here in Battle Creek.”
The unveiling took place as Color
the Creek’s annual Youth Art Fair
was taking place across Michigan
Avenue in Mill Race Park, owned by
the WKKF.
Lahens was unable to attend the
unveiling due to an exhibit opening
in France.
Speaking in her stead was Dana
Nau Francois who works as a WKKF
program officer for family economic
security in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
She works with the Haiti team at
the WKKF, she said.
“As a daughter of Haiti,” said
Francois, “with deep roots in its soil
and soul, I’m honored to introduce
you to a piece of my homeland’s
heart – the at of Genevieve Iris
Lahens, the artist. Iris, like me,
was born under Haiti’s vibrant sky.
Her journey has taken her across
the globe, earning accolades from
Germany to South Korea, even
designing stained glass windows
for a church in France. Yet, her
art remains profoundly, proudly
Haitian.”
According to Francois, there is
The new W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) headquarters mural, A Day of Pure
Joy, was unveiled during the Color the Creek Youth Fair Wednesday, Aug. 14
in downtown Battle Creek. Here, WKKF President CEO LaJune Montgomery
Tabron, center, greets staff and the public. (Shopper News photo by Shelly Kehrle-Sulser)a Haitian proverb: “Deye mon gen
mon” – beyond mountains, there are
mountains.
“This captures our spirit,” she said.
“Resilient, ever-striving, always see-
ing possibility beyond challenges and
much like Battle Creek, Michigan.”
Francois called the mural more than
paint on fabric.
“It’s a bridge between cultures,”she said, “a window into the Haiti I
know and love – a Haiti of creativ-
ity, resilience and yes, joy. Iris cap-
tures what I know about my country
but that so few people here get to
see, and I’m thrilled you’ll experi-
ence it here today, in Battle Creek,
Michigan.”
Color the Creek founder and main
organizer Justin Andert said that theevent started eight years ago to beau-
tify Battle Creek by turning building
walls into living breathing vessels to
tell stories.
“Whether those stories are a nod
to our history,” he said, “stories of
empowerment and representation,
stories from the nature that surrounds
us and most importantly stories with
lots of color.”
According to Ander, there has
been a growing sentiment that Battle
Creek is heading in the right direc-
tion.
“A change in tone about the way
we speak about and feel about our
city,” he said. “Color the Creek has
had a front row seat to that trans-
formation that every one here has
played a part in. We like to think that
these are our stories but your home.”
Andert noted that the WKKF mural
tells the story of the “amazing work
they are doing here in Battle Creek
and around the world.”
The artist, who studied architecture
at the National School of Fine Arts
in Paris, began to paint in her coun-
try of origin, Haiti, and was quickly
called upon to represent it on the
international scene, notably in 1996,
in Miami, Fla. at the Art American
Exhibition.
In 2000, she moved to Quebec
where she staged a major solo
exhibition at the Centre d Art in
Port-au-Prince and then her career
was marked by an exhibition of 50
women from around the world at the
United Nations Headquarters in New
York.
Purchased by the organization, one
of her works was on the cover of all
UNIFEM (now UN Women) reports
and documents for the year.
Her WKKF piece encapsulates the
ideas of the understanding of one’s
own feelings and those of others.
“It portrays people – women, men
and children – united as one family
within the universe,” she wrote in
her artist statement, “surrounded by
nature and birds symbolizing peace.
The children are embraced by the
lives of their family members, ener-
gized by the sun’s light.”WKKF celebrates ‘A Day of Pure Joy’ mural unveiling