Kansas Native, Thomas Richmond, has made quite a name for himself this year at KU. The printmaking major took on KU Dining’s large project for The Studio at Hashinger Hall. Richmond was responsible for creating a large mural titled Tradition, featuring KU’s most iconic images including a 7.5 foot tall James Naismith.
Richmond always knew that he wanted to be an artist. Fascinated by the way layers fit together, he started playing around with stencils and now, you could say it’s his trademark. Some of his work is inspired by Shepard Fairey, creator of the Obey Giant, and Bansky, a graffiti artist. However, Richmond didn’t begin his college career in KU’s art program. Instead, he began his college career playing soccer for Ottawa University. A year into school, he felt he needed to focus on his art. After making this decision, he knew KU was where he needed to be to accomplish this goal. Who knew that coming to KU would turn into an opportunity to tackle the biggest project of his life so far.
Taking on his first wall as his canvas, Richmond hand cut every stencil and painted with spray paint provided by major graffiti artist manufacturer, Montana Cans. His inspiration was the iconic images that hold the most meaning and tradition; images that every Jayhawk is familiar with.
When Richmond isn’t painting his life away, you can find him working at Urban Outfitters or as part of a stage crew at local concerts. Later in life he hopes for his clean, iconic, graphic work to be featured in galleries worldwide but for now, we can expect to be awed by his work because he believes, “The more people you influence by an image, is a job well done.”