I thought about this a long time before I applied for this grant. I would park my car along the railroad track just north of the old Kalamazoo Fruit Company and would often see Lupe strolling past. This man looked like he was forgotten by most people and so did the building, so I thought this was a good combination for a painting.

Lupe doesn't like Kalamazoo and would rather be in Floriida because it has warmer weather and richer people. He would like to trim their bushes and take care of their lawns and trees.

I painted large so that when the viewer walks by he would feel like a participant walking alongside of Lupe.

The paintings that you see in this exhibit are the result of several months of searching out the history of the Kalamazoo Fruit Company and the lives of the homeless people who frequent the Ministry With Company across the street.

This project would not have been possible without the Community Arts Grant from Pharmacia and Upjohn Foundation and the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.

The idea began when I moved my studio into the Park Trades Center. I was told that the Kalamazoo Fruit Company building was going to be razed because of its dilapidated condition. Leaving my parked car on Willard Street just north of the building, I would visualize various potential paintings. After observing the interesting people who came from the Ministry and hung around this old building, I thought the combination of building and people would make a challenging theme. Hopefully the publicity could also help some of the people.