William Rankins Jr. sits in his apartment north of Cincinnati surrounded by his art. His walls are filled with landscapes of waterfalls, photorealistic drawings of local and national figures, and more.
There's a photo of a huge mural honoring musicians that once stood in Walnut Hills. Another shows a multi-story rendition of President Barack Obama Rankins painted in the West End around the time of Obama's 2008 election.
He gets nostalgic talking about it all. Rankins painted in Cincinnati neighborhoods for decades.
"Since the '70s, really," he says as he moves around the room, pointing out exactly where some of his favorites are, even though he can no longer see them. "I did a lot of work in the 1980s; a lot of work in the 1990s."
Most of his murals are gone today, painted over or torn down as the neighborhoods around them redeveloped. Rankins has been blind for several years and doesn't get the chance to paint murals much anymore.
"Are you going to paint over me too? That's how I feel," Rankins told WVXU earlier this year. "You're just taking me off the map."
But now, a new collaboration is putting him back.
Passing the Brush
Rankins is waiting for a visit from a young artist named Javarri Lewis, who will paint a three-story portrait of him in Over-the-Rhine for the enormously popular 2024 BLINK light and art show. That mural in a neighborhood once filled with Rankins' art will honor his influence on the community.
He's excited. But he also has questions — as you might if someone wanted to paint your face three stories tall in a very public place.
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"I told him I wanted to talk to him to see where his mind is," Rankins says of Lewis. "I need to get in his head and see where he's at. I can't see what he's doing. I don't know how it's going to look — I don't know any of that."
A few minutes later, Lewis arrives with representatives from BLINK. He quickly unfurls some renderings of the coming work and starts talking Rankins through them. He also explains he has a long relationship with Rankins' murals, which he would see as a boy as he visited family in the West End. He noticed when they started disappearing.
"Every time I would come down, your work would be the first thing I'd see," he tells Rankins. "That stuck with me. Because then I knew where I was at. Because I'd know I was on Liberty (Street). So I was using your work to wayfind my way around. And then the stuff started to be gone."
Lewis has worked in support roles on previous BLINK murals and is well known locally for his other artistic work. He and Rankins came up with a design that will feature Rankins' face on a prominent wall on Liberty Street between Vine and Walnut streets. It also features a smaller rendering of the two of them standing together with Rankins' seeing eye dog, who recently passed away.
Rankins' favorite quote — "Walk by faith, not by sight" — runs across the work.
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Lewis explains what was on his mind as he worked on the design.
"Just your legacy in general," he tells Rankins. "In different versions. It doesn't even have to just be about the painting, but relationships you made, who you talked to, people who know you, people who didn't know you before but who will know you now. You were able to make your mark. So that's how I basically designed the image. Very expressive marks, but kept your likeness, because I have to nail that."
A Natural Collaboration
Destinee Thomas is a BLINK co-producer. She also works with CincyNice, an organization that helps bring artists together for collaborations.
She says the partnership between Rankins and Lewis came about after local news outlets ran stories on the last of Rankins' mural work still standing in the West End. She knew the two had to work together.
"A lot of what we talked about this year in curating the artwork for BLINK is that it's become this global light show," she says. "But we still really want it rooted and connected to Cincinnati. This felt like this incredible marriage of both. It's this really universal story of continuing on after adversity. It felt almost spiritual to bring (Rankins and Javarri) together. So it's been really fun to work on the collaboration."
A couple weeks after their meeting, Rankins comes by the mural worksite to lend a hand as Lewis is painting. A sight guide named Sara Birkofer is on hand to describe to Rankins how the work is going so far.
She guides his hand over the rough wall the mural is taking shape on and describes Lewis' expressive brushwork. She also gives Rankins a sense of how big the finished project will be.
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"So your head is about three stories tall right now," she tells him before joking, "try not to get a big head about it, alright?"
After he's got his bearings, Rankins is ready to paint — his first time working on a mural in years. Lewis helps guide him verbally as Rankins glides sky blue paint up a towering wall with a slow, steady hand. He doesn't miss a beat.
The mural on Liberty Street is still in progress ahead of an upcoming opening ceremony right before BLINK. Rankins got to check it out and help fill it in today. Background story here: https://t.co/UFWgI8g4ZR pic.twitter.com/3ghEyRadFD
— Nick Swartsell (@nswartsell) October 4, 2024
Rankins' longtime friend Deb Clinkscale is also here. Before the local media attention and the BLINK opportunities, she was his biggest supporter.
The two share an emotional moment just before they do an interview with a TV news crew about Rankins' and Lewis' new collaboration.
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"I can tell you're happy," she says to Rankins.
"I'm overjoyed," he replies. "Overjoyed. They've got me that big on the wall?"
"Yes," Clinksale tells him. "You're huge."
An unveiling for the mural will be held Wednesday at 5 p.m. at 1619 Moore Street in Over-the-Rhine.
BLINK starts Thursday and runs through Sunday. Lewis' mural — and Rankins' legacy — will be on display for years to come.