Muralist pays tribute to notable Wichitans, other historical figures across city

On a sunny mid-May afternoon, muralist Emmanuel Campos-Perez — who prefers to go by his artistic signature of Deber614 — was putting the final touches on a mural on a brick building at 25th North and Arkansas, where two brothers had once run a well-frequented corner store.

The mural of J.W. and B.E. “Beetle” Baum is the fifth mural in Deber614’s ambitious 15-mural “Gaze of History” project, which is a sort of open-air archive and tribute to Wichitans and other historical figures.

“That’s dad, isn’t it?” said Janiece Baum Dixon to her husband, Curtis, who had pulled into the parking lot to check out the progress. Dixon, the daughter of J.W. Baum, owns the building on the land where her dad and uncle once ran Sailors Sporting Goods, which was more of a convenience store than a sporting store, selling gas, beverages and penny candy. The original building burned down, and the brothers built the current one.

“A lot of the older people in the North End will likely remember it,” said Dixon about her family’s store. The brothers had been lifelong residents of the North End.

While the mural on her building has deep personal meaning to Dixon, as an active local historian, she sees Deber614’s project as bringing something important to the whole city.

“I like that it’s going to bring the forgotten history up front and center. It’s educating people to dig deeper into history, and that’s one of my things,” said Dixon, an appointed member of Wichita’s Historic Preservation Board.

Earlier this year, Deber614 completed a mural of Hattie McDaniel, depicting her holding the Oscar she won for her role in the 1939 movie “Gone With the Wind.” The Wichita-born actress was the first African American to win an Academy Award. The mural, the third in Deber614’s 15-mural project, is on the outside wall of vintage clothing store The Hereafter, at 120 N. Hillside.

Nearby, at 110 N. Hillside, he created another “Gaze of History” mural to honor silent film star Louise Brooks, who had returned to Wichita in 1940 and briefly ran a dance studio in the building.

The other two murals are of Francisco “Pancho” Villa at Anahuac Tortilleria Restaurant at 2792 S. Seneca and one he calls “Immigrating Through Space and Time” at 17th and Waco.

Deber614, who documented his daily progress on the Baums mural on Facebook, narrated one video to share how he views his work: “History is a practice, not just a subject. I am lucky to be able to preserve the memories of so many through my work. Murals are not just for the powerful, the famous, the heroes. They are for everyone who seeks to remember and honor the past. They are all in the gaze of history.”

Deber614’s murals incorporate vibrant geometric shapes in the background, botanical elements, and, often, animals. He prefers airless sprayers and eschews projectors, instead scaling up his images using traditional freehand and grid-drawing methods.

In April, Deber614 received a $1,000 grant from the nonprofit Arts Council for his mural project. In December, he was one of the recipients of the city of Wichita’s new Activation Grants, which replaced its Artist Access and Developing Arts Grants program. He has also received funding from business owners such as Dixon.

Deber614 is still considering the subjects for the remaining 10 murals in the project. He would like to do a mural honoring sisters Marion and Grace Greenwood, Brooklyn, New York-born muralists and painters who spent time in Mexico in the early to mid-1930s learning techniques and painting murals. Famed Mexican painter Diego Rivera reportedly called them the “greatest living women mural painters” in a Washington Post article. Marion went on to do large-scale murals as part of the Works Progress Administration projects.

Even before he got funding to start the 15-mural “Gaze of History” project, Deber614 had grassroots-funded other murals, including one that paid homage to well-known Wichita Public Schools educator and community advocate William “Buggs” Polite, who started several programs focused on mentorship and academics.

In another previous mural, Deber614 paid tribute to Mexican social realist painter and muralist David Alfaro Siquieros on the wall of Paleteria Chihuahua at 500 E. Central.

Like Siqueiros, Deber614 is from Chihuahua, Mexico. The city’s main area code is 614.

“I grew up in a city that was very vibrant with murals and street art, and everybody was welcoming and didn’t mind showing me the ropes,” said Deber614, who, around age 13, started hanging around outdoor artists on the weekends to soak up as much knowledge as he could.

Although Deber614 moved to Wichita in 2014, he initially didn’t do much mural painting locally. Instead, he painted murals in Kansas City and participated in national mural events in cities such as Memphis, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. About three years ago, he started doing more murals in his adopted city, but he still travels to do mural projects.

Deber614 is also a fine arts artist and has shown work at local galleries, including Art House 310, and for a recent First Friday show at Reverie Roasters. On June 4, he’ll be among the 14 artists competing in the Mark Arts fundraising event Versus: A Live Art Battle, where artists have 20 minutes to create a work of art; the grand prize is a 2027 exhibition at Mark Arts.