🎥 ‘150 Years of Service’ mural nearing completion at Hays VFW

“150 Years of Service,” by Hays artist Dennis Schiel, is nearly finished on the north wall of VFW Post 9076.

By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

The huge mural project underway on the north side of the Hays VFW building, 2106 Vine, is nearing completion.

The military history painting “150 Years of Service” by Hays artist Dennis Schiel has been consigned by the Hays Arts Council in observation of the 150th anniversary of Ellis County, the city of Hays and historic Fort Hays. Hays Arts Council is celebrating its 50th year in 2017.

Schiel started with a depiction of the Buffalo Soldiers, the black troops who served at Fort Hays, and then he painted Walker Air Force Base which was open during World War II just east of Hays.

“Every war will also be represented and every armed service will be represented,” Schiel explained as worked in black, gray and white tones on the World War I picture.

“Since it’s our 150th anniversary, I wanted to paint something that shows 150 years of military service.”

Schiel, a professional artist for more than 30 years, usually paints on a much smaller scale, often portraits and other consigned images which will hang on indoor walls.

“This is really fun,” he laughed, making large swooping passes with a large paintbrush on the light red brick. “I don’t have to make sure every line is real straight because if you get away from it, you can’t tell the difference.”

In comparison, the subjects in the Kansas mural he painted which hangs in the Topeka state capitol “took as long as these pictures will and the Kansas subjects are just two by three inches.”

Schiel mixes paint on his pickup tail gate.

He likes to call his large work “slopping paint.”

“This wall is presenting a challenge. It’s so porous, it’s hard to make everything work. We initially started with 2.5 gallons for the base and ended up using 7 gallons of paint just to get the base down. It just sucks it in.”

Schiel also painted the mural on the north side of the Fox Pavilion in downtown Hays which depicts the 150 years of history in Ellis County.

“The Fox wall was smooth brick,” he noted. After working on the VFW wall for a while, Schiel said he learned some secrets to painting on porous brick. “You have to use a fan brush and that way the paint gets down into the pores.”

He hadn’t planned to use little fan brushes but discovered the need since the military scene subjects are quite a bit smaller than those on the two-story Fox Pavilion.

And the secret to working in the summer heat?

“Move fast,” Schiel answered with a big laugh. He actually prefers the paint dry quickly so he can layer it if necessary.

Schiel has been keeping plenty of water with him and says the veterans inside the air-conditioned environs of Post 9076 have been “really nice, inviting me in for a drink at the end of the day.”

When completed, the mural will include scenes of Buffalo Soldiers, WWI, Walker Air Force Base, WWII, Korean Conflict, Vietnam War, Gulf Wars, symbols of the five armed services, a bald eagle–the nation’s symbol–and a jet, all set against the red, white and blue background of a flying American flag.

The original plans for the VFW mural called for painting it on the west side which faces the heavily trafficked Vine Street, according to Schiel.

“But the sun would get to it constantly and that just won’t work. This should last a lot longer,” he predicted. Following a little bit of research, he’s now hoping the mural will last at least 20 years after applying a sealing coat.

Schiel expects to be done with the mural by the end of the month.