Archives & Museum Informatics - Museums and the Web 2005
Impacting and Inspiring Communities
Kristopher Barks, USA
http://www.natemcclain.com/
Abstract
Young artist's tragic death impacts and inspires
community. Nathan McClain was an accomplished Illustrator who died unexpectedly
and tragically in 1997 at the age of 24. In the summer of 2003, the Nathan
McClain Gallery Web site (http://www.natemcclain.com/) was created as an on-line gallery
to showcase his artwork and to be a memorial to his life. The Web site was
established primarily for family/friends to share stories about Nathan and
comment on his art. Since the launch of the Web site, the Nathan McClain
on-line gallery has reconnected friends, mobilized grassroots efforts, and
inspired the art community.
Keywords: Community, on-line gallery, memorial, grassroots,
art
Nate's Story
In order to understand how the Nathan McClain Gallery Web site (http://www.natemcclain.com/) has impacted and inspired
communities, it is crucial to know about the brief life of Nathan McClain.
Fig. 1: Nathan McClain
Nathanial Allen McClain was born August 6, 1973 to David and and Lynn
McClain. Nathan was an only child and was raised in Granite City, Illinois,
near St. Louis, Missouri. From as early as 4 years old, Nathan began showing
talent as an artist and created his own custom "greeting cards" that he would
share with his family. His mother, Lynn, was an artist and was a major
influence and encourager of Nathan's abilities. As he went through school,
Nathan's artistic creativity continued to expand and he always seemed to have a
crayon, pencil, or marker in his hand. Nathan had a natural fun-loving spirit
and a charisma that made everyone want to hang around him. Consequently, he was
known and respected throughout many different social circles. Throughout high
school and college, Nathan had a number of girlfriends. Nathan attended
Southwest Missouri State University (SMSU) in Springfield, Missouri, joined the
Delta Chi Fraternity, and in 1995 obtained a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree with
an emphasis in Illustration.
In late 1993, Nathan's mother Lynn died after a short 4-month battle with
cancer. Lynn was Nathan's biggest supporter, and her sudden passing profoundly
affected Nathan as well as his artwork. His color choices seem to become darker
and his themes harsher. After completing his art degree, Nathan spent some time
in the Northeast and he returned to live in the Art Lofts of downtown St. Louis
with a childhood friend David Edwards. While in this environment, Nathan
continued to produce artwork and his loft apartment became a major gathering
party spot.
1997 was a banner year for Nate. He put together an art showing with other
Art Loft artists, he traveled to New York City, he took a road trip to
California, and in late August he began interviewing for Illustration
positions. Nathan attended the wedding of two SMSU college friends, Rob Johnson
and Lisa Anderson. The wedding was in Louisiana, Missouri on September
6th. Shortly after the wedding reception, Nathan and some others were going to
dive off a nearby bridge into the Mississippi river (it was after
midnight). Nathan, a certified lifeguard, was the first to dive and he never
surfaced. Authorities later found his body downstream.
Nathanial Allen McClain had died at the age of 24 on September 7, 1997.
The Vision
The day after Nathan's death, a large number of his friends returned to his
apartment at the Art Loft and practically lived there until the wake and
funeral. Many memories and tears were shared during that time; there was a
feeling that an era was ending. After Nathan's funeral, the friends went their
separate ways. Some bonded closer while others wanted to be left alone. There
was a noticeable void left after Nathan died.
During this time, one of Nathan's closest friends, Kristopher Barks, shared a
vision of an on-line gallery for Nathan's artwork. Kris worked as a software
developer and had grown up with Nathan for 20 years – they were like
brothers. Nathan's death hit Kris especially hard which resulted in the on-line
gallery concept being abandoned for 5 years.
In January 2003, it was finally time to create Nathan's Web site. A goal was
set to launch the site on August 6, 2003, since it would have been Nathan's 30th
birthday. The purpose of the Web site would be to inform people about Nathan's
artwork and his life – a combination on-line gallery and memorial. The
following were the initial challenges:
- No comprehensive inventory of artwork
- Artwork in the possession of various family and friends
- No contact information for the majority of family and friends
- No graphic design experience for Web graphics
- Limited knowledge about the art community
- Possession of 6 pieces of artwork and 10 photo snapshots
From the outset, community building was the key to success. The community
would be both audience and participants in this on-line experience since they
knew Nate, owned his artwork, and would provide the content. It was all a
matter of pulling everyone together from these main communities:
- Nathan's Family– his Father, grandparents, cousins, etc.
- Granite City residents – grade school and high school friends
- Southwest Missouri State University alumni – college and fraternity friends
- Art Loft residents – neighbors and artists
Reconnecting
After designing a site layout and agreeing on the Web site name, it was time
to share the details to begin acquiring the necessary content of art pictures
and snapshot photos. One of the first people to hear the details was Nathan's
family - his father David McClain and his grandparents Eva and Willis
Shepard. Nathan's family was (and still is) extremely supportive of the site
and gave their approval. After Nathan's family, each of the key people within
the various communities was contacted and their help solicited. Initial
meetings were primarily in person, and everyone was on board from day
one. Everyone was encouraged to spread the word about the Web site and assume
people did NOT know about it.
To help generate enthusiasm for the site, a teaser page was created so people
had something to view. In a fairly short timeframe, the people who knew Nathan
were getting back in touch with each other, "lost" friends were being found, and
anticipation was building. Once the community became involved, most of the
initial challenges of identifying and locating family, friends, artwork, and
snapshots began to melt away. Since Nathan was the center of many spheres of
influence, emails started flying, with digital picture attachments of artwork
and snapshots as well as words of thanks and encouragement.
During the pre-launch phase, people who didn't even know Nathan started
getting involved. The site needed to be professional and have graphic
designs. Collaborations were made to create a shell of a site, locate a Web
host, and create the logo. a graphic artist who was saddened to hear Nathan's
story designed the logo based on one of Nathan's art pieces.
Fig 2: Logo of the Nathan McClain Gallery Web site
At 12:01am on August 6, 2003, the following email was sent to everyone who
was previously contacted about Nathan's Web site:
Greetings friends and family,
Today, August 6 2003, Nate would have turned 30 years of age.
In his honor, the Nathan McClain Gallery is officially open at
http:\\www.natemcclain.com
Browse the collection
Remember the man
Share stories
Spread the news
Happy Birthday Nate!
P.S. A huge thanks to everyone who has contributed so far and I
am looking forward to receiving additional Art and Photos to make Nate's Gallery
complete.
The Nathan McClain Gallery Web site (http://www.natemcclain.com/) was successfully launched and now
contains 69 pieces of artwork and 54 snapshot photos. The feedback was
extremely positive, and some people stated it helped them have closure. There
are friends of Nathan who had drifted apart but have reconnected because of the
Web site. One of the features implemented was the ability to add comments to
each piece of art and to Nathan's biography. These comments have had the
unexpected result of adding a "heartbeat" and warmth to the site.
The friends of Nathan have been discovering the site by word of mouth and
on-line searches and have helped to expand the virtual community. The Web site
averages 15,000 hits a month. Nathan's Web site is registered with the major
search engines and appears on art related sites that list Nathan in their artist
list. In the Spring of 2004, the Southwest Missouri State University chapter of
the Delta Chi fraternity found out about Nathan's Web site and his death. They
were so moved by his story that they wrote a feature article about Nathan in
their Spring newsletter.
Mobilizing
Prior to Nathan's death, he created a sports mural on the wall of a sporting
goods store named Ultimate Sports in his hometown of Granite City, Illinois. As
part of tracking down Nathan's artwork for the Web site, the sports mural was
rediscovered in 2003; however, the sporting goods store was out of business and
the building abandoned.
Figure 3: Ultimate Sports mural (http://www.natemcclain.com/Art.asp?i=10)
In September 2004, we learned that the building containing the mural was
scheduled to be demolished the next month (October). This required immediate
action to save the mural from demolition. The demolition foreman was contacted
and he was very sympathetic to the situation. The foreman got authorization to
allow the mural to be extracted from the building prior to demolition. The
mural was on a 16' by 8' wall and was too large for an individual to keep in a
home.
Since the mural was already in Nathan's hometown and it had a sports theme,
the local high school was contacted to see if they wanted the mural for their
gymnasium. The high school was very supportive of the idea; however, the school
did not have space to accommodate a mural of such a large size. Undeterred, the
next stop was Coolidge Middle School. The principal, Rick Talley, was excited
about receiving the mural and would find a place for it. The challenge would be
the extraction and transportation of the mural. After some investigation with
the school superintendent, Rick discovered the cost of saving and preserving the
mural would be around $500, a sum not in the school's budget. Rick said if the
$500 dollars could be raised, then the school would be able to preserve the
mural.
A grassroots fundraising campaign was created to raise the $500 to save the
mural. The first people contacted were Nathan's family and friends who were
from Granite City. Pledges started to trickle in, yet every day was one day
closer to demolition. To ensure the $500 was raised, the following email was
sent to the non-Granite City community:
NEED YOUR HELP ASAP!!
The building that has one of Nate's paintings is being TORN DOWN
next week.
We need to raise $500 DOLLARS to transport and preserve this
painting at Coolidge Middle School.
We are accepting donations of any amount to keep this Artwork from
being blasted to bits.
TO HELP, call me or email me at admin@natemcclain.com.
Here's a link to the artwork being demolished:
http://www.natemcclain.com/Art.asp?i=10
The painting preservation effort gained the attention of the local papers
which wrote articles about Nathan and the mural. About a week before
demolition, the fundraising was still short of the $500 needed. Panic was
beginning to set in when Prather Elementary School in Granite City called. It
turned out there was a cash fund set up in Lynn McClain's, Nathan's mom's,
name. It had been sitting dormant for years (Lynn had taught at Prather prior
to her death). The school wanted to transfer the money to the fundraising
effort (which they did), and that is what allowed the fundraising to surpass the
$500 goal. The mural is now preserved in the cafeteria of Coolidge Middle
School in Granite City, Illinois. A dedication ceremony is being planned as of
this writing
Inspiring
Because of the mural preservation effort, the art community became aware of
Nathan McClain and they have been moved by Nathan's "tragic artist" story. The
pieces displayed on-line are a cross-sectional representation of the artwork
Nathan produced, with additional pieces regularly being uncovered and added. As
the artwork gallery expands, the art community is gaining an appreciation of the
natural talent and potential Nathan possessed.
Nathan's artistic influence is not limited to those who are just now getting
familiar with his work. One of Nathan's art pieces displayed in his high school
inspired a girl (whom he didn't know) to become an artist and art
teacher. Through his artwork, Nathan shared the best of himself, and his
creative legacy will now live on-line for the world to appreciate.
Through the Nathan McClain Gallery Web site (http://www.natemcclain.com/), Nathan's artwork has won the
following posthumous Web awards so far:
- Digital Color Award – Artist of the Month
- Miller Communications Group Art Award
- Kara Art Award
- Golden Web Award
- Art Space World Web Award
Nathan had an amazing artistic gift at such a young age, and he continued to
be a vital creative force right up until the end. He is greatly missed by all
who were privileged to know him. All past and future success of the Web site is
attributed to the generous support of the family and friends of Nathan. The
Nathan McClain Gallery Web site (http://www.natemcclain.com/) will continue engaging people so
they can discover Nathan's story and appreciate his contribution to the art
community. Visit the site, admire the artwork, read the stories, and share the
site with others.
Fig 4: The Homepage of the Nathan McClain Gallery (http://www.natemcclain.com/)
Cite as:
Barks,
K., Impacting and Inspiring Communities, in J. Trant
and D. Bearman (eds.). Museums and the Web 2005: Proceedings, Toronto:
Archives & Museum Informatics, last updated March 31, 2005.
http://www.archimuse.com/mw2005/papers/barks/barks.html
This article can also be viewed at the Archives & Museum Informatics website.
