The walls outside of historic McCollum Hall in Fort Myers are getting a new look. Artists Erik Schlake and J.P. Almonacid are at work painting murals on the outer walls of the historic Art Deco building in the Dunbar section of Fort Myers. It was a cultural center for the Black community in the 1940s and 50s.
Schlake created a portrait of Paul Laurence Dunbar, the poet the neighborhood was named for. Dunbar died in 1906 but his work is right back in the spotlight today. In a way, he was part of President Biden’s recent inauguration.
“On Joe Biden’s inauguration, a young 22-year-old poet stood up and read a poem that went viral," said Schlake. "And her poem was inspired by Maya Angelou’s book ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.’ Which was inspired by Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, ‘Sympathy: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.’”
Dunbar originally wrote the popular line. Amanda Gorman, the young inaugural poet, even wore a ring that day that featured a caged bird.
Almonacid, the other artist contributing to the mural, portrayed the dancers who frequented McCollum Hall in its heyday. When big-name acts like Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong would play, the doors of the hall would be open to both Black and White people. It was one of the few places to allow that in segregated Fort Myers.
The 12 panels of the mural will be finished March 30. McCollum Hall itself is undergoing a refurbishment, and is slated to re-open at the end of the year.
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