Christopher Thompson - Shawn Dunwoody

Shawn Dunwoody wished to be a superhero when he was younger, and even attempted to become one through childhood ingenuity.

He set out to attain spider powers by collecting some spiders in a jar, and raiding a sewing kit. Since he had no access to radioactive material, he thought to somehow electrify the spiders and inject himself with their charged blood. Fortunately, his mother stopped him before he could harm himself or the arachnids, and he resigned himself to drawing his favorite superheroes. However, Shawn became a superhero of sorts in his

native Rochester in another way. Like calling cards of a mysterious guardian, his words of encouragement and praise for Rochester are found all over the city, giving life to erstwhile dull walls. As a newcomer to the area, they comforted me that I made a good decision moving here, and I saw Shawn Dunwoody before formally meeting him.

Shawns artistic talent evolved into a desire to become a professional artist. It took years for him to cultivate his craft, a power that persevered through lifes obstaclesboth from the outside world and those he may have created himself. Despite being kicked out of two high schools and then surviving on welfare with three young children at twenty, he remained determined. While working to survive, he honed his craft and sold his illustrations and designs.

Unlike traditional superheroes who attain abilities instantly through happenstance, Shawns success developed through dogged motivation and time.

He received no big break, and began receiving public recognition, and hosting gallery openings around town. Shawn would don his own superhero uniform of suede Oxfords, checkered trousers, and bright colored bowtie, and memorize

speeches to present his work at exhibitions. After a while, Shawn realized this was not where his talents belonged. He needed to move his work outside of the enclosed gallery space and felt Black people needed to see Black men doing positive things. Looking at his old neighborhood, and seeing beer and cigarette advertisements, high- fee ATM machines, and EBT grocers, he made it his mission to bombard the area with more positive messages. On the barren side of a corner store, he painted Believe in You in huge letters, large enough people could see the phrase from down the block.

Not unlike the superheroes of his childhood who impacted their neighborhoods, Shawn felt he was making progress when he overheard

Believe in you repeated in the area laterby a mother giving her son a lesson on self-esteem, by two men conversing on a corner, by kids walking home from school.

That message was one start to Shawn Dunwoodys Words to Live By art series, the same series that gave me comfort about moving to Rochester.

The beauty of Shawn Dunwoodys public art projects is that most of them are group projects. He enlists volunteers from the neighborhoods he is painting to participate. They are not just his, they are the communitys pieces, whether the keys on Main and Gibbs Streets, or the top canopy of MLK Park. His commission for the Rochester Public Library started with asking for input from the community by requesting positive words that came into their minds when they thought of the Librarythe same words he drew that now adorn the librarys walls. Today, there are over 50 Words to Live By throughout the city and the world. His work has expanded beyond Rochester, and as far as Poland and Brazil and Lithuania.

From Merchants Circle to Hudson Avenue, residents can see Shawns work shining brightly on neighborhoods and providing positive vibes to passersby.

Shawn has not forgotten his character-drawing roots, either. In 2018 and 2019, an off hand comment in a conversation inspired him to create superheroes who connected to Rochester. Rather than concocting fictional people from scratch, he turned icons of Rochesters history into the Legion of Legends. Frederick

Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, and George Eastman were bestowed with superhuman powers related to their own specific talents and contributions to society, and the Rochester Skyline became a team of transforming robots. Shawn created a cast of 50 characters in all, and he is ambitious to create more. He has toured schools and recreation centers with large cut- outs of his characters, as they are a perfect tool for teaching children about the citys past and getting them interested in preserving it for the future.

His most talked about piece of 2020 is the Black Lives Matter on Court Street, which sparked controversy from all sides.The mural was originally going to be on Main Street over the Genesee. He wanted yellow paint, but there was not enough from his supplier to fill that much space. After cycling through other color choices, he decided on blue, as this would be over a river, and blue is a rare and royal color in ancient Africaespecially up and

down the Nileexemplifying the prestige from whence we all came. The city then decided last minute to move the whole project to Court Street, as shutting down Main Street would be too cumbersome.Shawn and his team of volunteers made it happen. A week later, he painted the bowl of MLK Park all black except for a fist outlined in white. It is now a space where people can write their own messages in chalk. People have put words of

encouragement, book lists, and declarations of love in the space. His most compelling piece is tucked away on Scio Street, where a group of his past works bless the side of the City Blue Imaging print shop. Among homages to fellow Rochester native/musician Chuck Mangione, and to the city, the word Enough stands out, painted in various skin tones. It almost floats in front of its black background. The black is another canvas for the publics own words in chalk. The ghosts of murdered

peoples' names and pleas for justice haunt the space, faded out by residual wind and rain. While many have a lot to say about Shawns Black Lives Matter mural a few blocks away, Enough stands out silently.

More than twenty years after his first public art piece, Shawn has no intention of slowing down. His children are grown, and have kids of their own. He continues to use his powers to show his love and respect for the city that raised him, and he shares his power with others so that they can see the beauty of the city through their own eyes.

Shawn Dunwoody never needed a radioactive bite or electrified injection to gain powers. He just needed time.