I paint murals with people who live beside them. First come: resources, history, design. Then students, neighbors, and local businesses pick up their brushes and put them on the wall. This talk shows how we did that on the Kansas Ave Bridge in Topeka.
From Concept to Community
Building Public art through collaborative storytelling
Chief White Plume
Suffrage March
Brown v. Board
Looking Forward
About Zandra
My name is Zandra Sneed-Dawkins, and I founded Art Starts Here and Zandra’s Art. I am a painter, muralist, and multidisciplinary artist in Topeka, Kansas. I hold a BFA from Washburn University, and I served 24 years in the United States Coast Guard before I started this business.
Art Starts Here creates public murals and fine art portraits and runs a local art leasing program. I believe artists reach further together than they do alone. Every project I take on starts from that.
Artist on the Kansas Arts Commission; public art and muralist
Artist INC. facilitator for the Mid-America Arts Alliance
Public art works best when the people who live with it help make it. This talk follows the Kansas Ave Bridge from the Artist Call to the dedication. I use the Golden Circle - Why, How, and What- to explain the choices behind the work. The history research came first. The community paint days came next.
I speak to three groups in the room.
The talk
For artists
Mural work can pay, and it grows faster when
you build it with others. I show how grants,
leasing, and purchases fit together, and how
design, research, and facilitation each count
as skills you can change for.
For businesses
A sponsored wall ties your name to a
community’s story. I show what that
gives a neighborhood and a brand, and how
matching grants stretch a sponsor’s
dollar, and how a volunteer day puts
your team on the wall.
For educators and
communities
A mural can teach local history
to everyone who walks past it, with no
ticket and no gallery hours Students
designed part of this wall, and I show
how their drawings shaped it.
The Workshop
From Studio to Sustainability
Working alone makes pricing hard. This hands-on workshop gives artists a better start. Each person writes their own Golden Circle: their Why, their How, and their What. Then we discuss pricing their work and building income through grants, leasing, and purchases.
I teach these materials as an Artist Inc. facilitator. The workshop can run for one hour or a full day, depending on your group.
The Kansas Ave Bridge
The bridge sits in the NOTO Arts District in Topeka. Two Connected murals cover it supports. Together they came out of one idea: a walking museum that anyone can visit at any hour.
4,982+
square feet painted
93
volunteers
students
46
5
paid local artists
Reflections of Topeka
Pier-cap panels that tell Topeka’s history, from the 1865 founders and the Kaw Nation to the railroad, Brown v. Board, and the floods of 1903, and 1951. With the Anchor, it covers 4,982 square feet and was finished in July 2026.
The Bridge Anchor
A wall of legacy that continues from the bridge murals through the eyes of children. Local elementary students shaped the wall with their drawings. Funded by a grant through ArtsConnect.
The Kansas Avenue Bridge
The original underpass mural was about 4,982
square feet. It started with a conversation that
led to everything else on the bridge. A grant from the NOTO Arts and Entertainment Center funded it.
Reflections of NOTO
Pier-cap portrait
Community Paint Day
Topeka Rescue Mission, the first group to paint
The Bridge Anchor
Designed from student drawings
The Lift
Equipment from Foley made the high panels possible
Concept on the bridge
The concept imagined on the bridge before any paint.
Washburn Students
A cold windy Saturday under the bridge
Made possible by the community. A personal thank you to NOTO Art Center, ArtsConnect, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas, Foley Equipment, Topeka Rescue Mission, Onmi Circle, Washburn University Students, and City officials.
Recognition and service
2026 Arty Award Grant
2025 Glenda Taylor Visual Artist Award
Artists Thrive Speaker
Kansas Arts Commission Public Art & Muralist Roster
Board member, Visual Artists of Topeka
Member, NOTO Artist Committee
Facilitator, Artist INC (Mid-America Arts Alliance)
BFA, Washburn University
Bring this to your community
I travel across Kansas for talks and workshops, including communities more than 60 miles from Topeka. Tell me about your group, your date, and who will be in the room. I will reply with fees and availability.
785-384-6106 | Zandra Sneed-Dawkins, Art Starts Here, Topeka, Kansas