If you’ve headed north on College Avenue past 38th Street in the last 30 years, you’ve probably seen the small, unassuming retaining wall that’s been painted with thoughtful phrases.
The artist, Clayton Hamilton, said that in 1986 or so, he painted the wall for the first time after wishing the advertising in the neighborhood would promote something besides alcohol and cigarettes.
He didn’t ask permission, and he didn’t really have a plan. He simply went to work. He painted, “Be Strong. Be Proud. Don’t fall pray,” over the colors of the Pan-African flag.
It was a double entendre of, “Don’t fall prey” and “Don’t fall, pray.”
Hamilton, who is 71, has painted words on the wall between his former home and the parking lot next to it ever since. Currently, the word “Integrity” is painted with black letters on a white background. The word is also circled and crossed out with red paint. Next to it, there is a checkbox painted in red, white and blue. Although simple, the message is clearly political.
You won’t find too much online about Hamilton’s work, other than the occasional Reddit post and a few articles. But it has impacted — presumably — millions of people.
Hamilton doesn’t ask for a dime or a follower, and he never associates his messages with a certain “side.” What he does with his art is point out the questions many of us might be asking.
Hamilton, who retired from AT&T after 36 years and then volunteered at the Center For Leadership Development for 6 years, now runs InSight Art Promotion, a company that uplifts Black artists. His son, Walter Lobyn Hamilton, is an artist known for making art from vinyl records and the founder of B/Side Creative Campus in the Brookside neighborhood on the eastside.
Hamilton also creates pieces on 6-feet by 8-inch wooden planks with similar phrasing as what he paints on the walls. These works have been featured in local galleries like Gallery 924 and Indiana Landmarks, where Hamilton routinely shows his work. The wooden planks were also in a show at the Long-Sharp Gallery Project Space in New York City.
We talked to him about what’s on his mind to see what might pop up next on the wall on College Avenue or on one of his plank artworks. Here are some of his thoughts.
On the the latest mural message:
“People don’t seem to understand what integrity is. I thought, I’ll just put up the word integrity in huge letters, in a square box, and a red, white and blue question mark. That was basically it. Then, the Wednesday after the election I realized that integrity was not an issue that the American people were really concerned about.
“So I put a big sloppy, red rectangle and slash over the top to represent ‘not allowed.’ Then, I checked off the question mark with a red, white and blue check.”
What prompts him to paint new phrases:
Sociopolitical events across the spectrum. The first thing Hamilton painted stayed up for about a year. He changed it when people in Indianapolis were protesting the 1987 murder of Michael Taylor, who was fatally shot in the head while in the back of an IMPD car, and when the video of Rodney King being beaten by Los Angeles police officers in 1991 came out.
In 2009, during the Tea Party movement, he began changing the wall about every month, mostly using the colors of the American flag or the Pan-African flag. “It can either depict a poke in the eye with red, white and blue or a message to my people in red, black and green.”
On the reactions he gets:
The wall has never been defaced. About five years after he started painting it, he thought, “Well, I hope people are getting this.” One day a man approached him, his wife “cringing” in their Volvo station wagon and locking the doors.
“It was the funniest thing,” Hamilton said. The man, smiling, extended his hand and gave him $10 for more paint.
Hamilton said that over the years, about 15-20 people have commented on the wall. “Met this one guy, he said, ‘Man, you changed my life.’”
“After 30-some years the paint was building up, so I was scraping the wall. A couple of guys came up and asked whether or not I knew who owned the wall. They were the owners of the building next to the wall.”
On finding common ground:
“The wall has a certain level of inquisitive calm. The intent is to relate to all kinds of people. I attempt to find common ground. It is more difficult now with the political radicalization, but (I) gotta try.”
What else he likes to do:
Hamilton enjoys traveling. When he’s home, he listens to local musicians at the Chatterbox Jazz Club, specifically Frank Glover.
He likes The Slippery Noodle too, but he’s been looking for some slow blues, and they mainly play Texas blues. You can find him at Kan-Kan Cinema and Restaurant, where he’s led the “Black in America Heritage” series and is a frequent collaborator. Also, at different Mexican joints and AJ’s Lounge on South Meridian Street. He says of AJ’s, “We’re glad when the youngin’s come in.”
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