The Article

I found this article in a newspaper I found in the trash. It still looked brand new, I can't believe someone threw it away! Anyway, it's all about me and my art show! This is the ultimate adventure!






HOMELESS ARTIST TO DEBUT ART IN CENTRAL PARK
By: Rufus Milligan
May 5, 2000

Rose Mary Walls of West Virginia will be debuting her unique artwork for the first time next week. Walls has been all over the United States living in poverty and, at times, homeless to find inspiration for her pieces. "It was an adventure," she said at a press conference last night. Walls is a mother of four and explains that she has simply been waiting for the perfect moment to show off her talent. After all four of the Walls children moved to New York City to continue their education, Rex and Rose Mary Walls followed. "Rex and I wanted to be a family again," she explains when asked what prompted her to follow her children to New York City. However, the journey from West Virginia was cut short before the couple arrived at their oldest daughter's home. In what was the largest traffic jam in almost five years, the Walls' decrepit van broke down in the middle lane of I-9 and was impounded due to its registration status. Walls managed to save a great deal of her art work before the van was no longer accessible.

In honor of the recent discovery of Walls while selling her art as a sidewalk vendor, an art gallery is funding an outdoor showing of Walls' work. "She has a unique style that needs to be shown to the world," Hugh Grant, the curator of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Modern and Contemporary Art Department said. "It's about time someone recognizes that I am a true artist," Walls says with a grin. According to Grant, he discovered Walls and her artwork while he was walking to the museum. "I know good work when I see it. I offered her a showing on the spot,"Grant explains, "but she refused to do it in the museum. We came to a compromise with Central Park, a place Mrs. Walls feels more people will have the opportunity to view her pieces." 

The show will be held May 15, 2000 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information about this show and others held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, contact Hugh Grant at (212) 555-9987.


~RMW