Artist brings Dr. Seuss to WestCare’s walls
As Lindsey Bisch painted a mural devoted to Dr. Seuss, his rhymes became so intense in her memory that she felt compelled to quietly recite them.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant’s faithful one-hundred percent!
Outside the nursery and playroom where the 26-year-old Bisch worked evenings for most of March, darkness enveloped the WestCare Nevada’s Women and Children’s Campus that sits off North Rancho Drive in Las Vegas.
The women then residing at the campus with their children received services that included counseling for domestic violence and treatment for substance abuse. Well past bedtime as Bisch performed her artistry — she drew the Seuss characters freehand first — only the dimmest of lighting could be found in most of the residential facility.
But where Bisch made the characters of “Horton Hatches The Egg,” “Green Eggs and Ham,” “The Lorax,” “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” and “The Cat in the Hat ” come alive on an 8,000-square-foot wall, all the lights were on.
I know it is wet and the sun is not sunny, but we have lots of good fun that is funny.
Late night taps on the playroom’s door caused the artist to see who was there. When she opened the door, she found two little boys looking up at her. They wanted to know why she had bright lights on.
When she told them she had been painting characters from “The Cat In the Hat” — which their teacher had been reading to them — they ran into the room. When they saw the Cat on the wall, she says she’ll never forget their excitement.
“Wow, that’s so cool … It’s great,” they yelled while clapping.
Laughing, Bisch hushed them and got them back to bed.
An emotional response to your art, Bisch said as we looked at her mural, is what every artist hopes for.
She had donated her artistic services when Marilyn Moran, the vice chairwoman of the Community Action Council of WestCare Nevada, let it be known in the community that she wanted to make the play area more hospitable to children. Before Bisch did her work, the walls seemed more apropos for an Army barracks than for little ones.
“I knew a lot of these little kids weren’t having an easy time of it so I hoped I could bring smiles to their faces,” Bisch said
She has. Teachers and parents have gotten misty-eyed when the eyes and mouths of children open THIS BIG when they see their favorite Seuss characters.
Some giggle and try to hug the wall.
“Lindsey has a big heart and a big talent,” Moran said. “I’m so glad she volunteered to help us.”
A graduate of Bishop Gorman High School and Indiana’s St. Mary’s College, where she majored in fine arts, Bisch has also donated her services to Jalen’s Gift Foundation, which helps parents grieving over the loss of an infant. When she learned a fundraiser for the foundation would be held, she designed the invitations.
“An artist can make important contributions to the community,” she said.
She’s won awards for both paintings and sculptures. In a competition sponsored by Neiman Marcus, Bisch won for a pink rhino that had an ice cream cone where a tusk would be.
“An anti-poaching message,” Bisch said.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who says Lindsey has “a flair for … pop art,” has one of her silk-screened “American Girl” prints.
Still, Bisch says making ends meet doing entirely what she wants as an artist isn’t possible now.
So she works part time at LifeCast Studios, often molding casts of people’s hands for keepsakes.
And she’s helping her mother, retired Metropolitan Police Department officer Laurie Bisch, rehab a house that they hope can sell for enough money to bankroll a full-time rehabbing business.
When she becomes impatient with her career success, she always has some of her beloved Seuss to fall back on.
Today you are you! That’s truer than true! There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
Paul Harasim’s column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Friday in the Nevada section and Thursday in the Life section. Contact him at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Follow @paulharasim on Twitter.
