Sunday, June 22, 2014

Word On The Street

     Actually, it's just off the street: there's a short retaining wall between a home lot and a parking lot along College Avenue and 38th Street, where whoever owns it (possible the homeowner) has been painting pithy aphorisms for many years.

     The sign-painter appears to have a keen sense of his (or her) audience; the various phrases are usually non-partisan,* "political" in that they address general issues in an uplifting way.  The current one is a nice snapshot of the general approach:

     KNOW HISTORY - KNOW TRADITION - KNOW PRIDE - KNOW RESPECT.

    Something of a koan, really.

     ETA: It turns out the artist/aphorist is Clayton Hamilton, who retired from AT&T a few years ago, and has been painting that wall for over twenty years.  He's modest about it: "'They're just humanistic insights that everybody probably has,' says Clayton about his work. 'I have a big tapestry. I could say things that maybe people would be interested in, maybe they won't.'" (Found in an article about his son, a local artist.)  I think most of us are interested, Mr. Hamilton.
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* I seem to recall exactly one in recent years that expressed support for a local candidate, a man held even by his opponents to be particularly honest and well-meaning.

3 comments:

Old NFO said...

Good one! And somebody IS smart out there... :-)

Bubblehead Les. said...

Could it be a Test Run of a Hillary Campaign Slogan?

Roberta X said...

Not sure she'd be okay with the K and W.