Amy Lynn Stevenson (SHP 1987-90) wasn’t sure how long it would take to fill the big white blank wall where her mural was supposed to go. But with the help of former student Hallie Snyder (SHP 2014-16, 18), they completed a majestic eagle and waving flag mural on the side of the Holdrege Fraternal Order of Eagles building in five weeks. They were prepared to take all summer.
Stevenson said the logistics of such a piece are tricky. Her initial design was projected up onto the wall to help keep the overall artwork intact. She said that as they were painting, it was hard to tell if the design was working. They had to keep getting off the ladders and scaffolding to look from across the street.
“It’s the biggest art project I’ve ever done in my life,” Stevenson said. But she’d do it again. “It’s so satisfying to make something so big.”
The mural is at 223 West Avenue and measures 2,400 square feet. The mural honors the memory of Jacob Kimberly, a veteran and Eagles member who died in a motorcycle accident in 2024.
Scott Schwarz, a Bertrand art teacher, helped with the painting as well as with projecting the image onto the wall.
Stevenson had done some murals before but on smaller scale in various places she lived.
The idea for this mural started when Stevenson was spending time in Holdrege. She started to go to the Eagles Club and met Mark Beam, an officer of the group, who suggested she should do a mural on the side of the building. She said, “How do we do that?” So they figured out how. Various civic entities and grants were able to make the project a reality.
Stevenson lives in Oakview, California, with her sister, Jessi (SHP 1991-94), who is the artistic director of Santa Paula Theater Center. Stevenson works as an artist and teacher of art in various capacities in California. She loves being an artist and likes the freedom of her time. “It’s what I do. I’ve been doing it forever.”
When she returned to Holdrege to care for her mother, she had restarted a friendship with a former student, Hallie Snyder, formerly Hallie Prickett, of Alma. Snyder had attended SHP in art when Stevenson was the SHP art instructor.
So when Stevenson started getting serious about the mural, she asked Snyder to join her.
“We became seamless,” Stevenson said. “You can’t tell where one of us stopped and the next one picked up.”
Snyder agrees the two worked really well together. “There is no ego between us, which is really refreshing,” Snyder said. And she enjoyed getting to know her former instructor as an adult.
Stevenson said she would absolutely do more of these big projects, but nothing may compare to this one.
“It was so special being from here,” she said. But another mural would be easier, since she’s done a lot of the problem solving of logistics. And she would love to collaborate again on something this big — it makes the project go faster, she said.
Snyder said one of the best parts of the celebration of the completion of the mural was Summer Honors-related. Janelle Jack, former SHP director, showed up at the May 30 reception with flowers for her former instructor and student. Hallie said it was a highlight of the day because of how much the program meant to her.
The independence that was realized while in the program was a great thing for teens to be given, Snyder said. “A positive trial run to being an adult,” she said. “I really think teens need SHP now more than ever.
“All of us wanted to be there,” she said. There was competitiveness but encouragement. “It was the perfect environment for growth.”
Stevenson totally agrees that her time at Summer Honors was special. “It brings people out of their shell — or it did for me. Opened up my world, made me feel special.” She said the social aspects of SHP were maybe its most important thing. It’s hard to be social these days, but we need to keep connecting with folks in reality, she said.
These days Stevenson spends weeks at a time in Holdrege teaching art classes through Central Community College. Snyder does some substitute teaching and all kinds of art pieces, including smaller murals and store windows. The two are likely to team up again. In fact, they have plans to repaint a mural that was done by the Summer Honors class in 2014 and 2015 in Holdrege as well.
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