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"Boat with Sailors"

c. 2011

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Designed & Constructed by: Stephanie Smither & Gena Atwell

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ABOUT THE DESIGN

This whimsical boat with sailors and a mermaid is of special interest because park founder Stephanie Smither created this panel along with her good friend and native Houstonian, Gena Atwell. The panel actually encompasses two ‘sections’ of the Memory Wall and includes a fanciful pink cloud above the seafarers as well as a flag topping the mast. The sail of the boat is done in orange which was a favorite color of Stephanie, as well as being a nod to the Orange Show down the street.

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Outsider Art is a term used to describe art that has a naïve quality, made by people who were not trained as artists. Stephanie and her husband John were keen supporters of this type of art and would travel to see it even as far as India, where they visited Nek Chand’s Rock Garden which influenced this panel.