Dan Burgevin

A Yeoman’s Art

After attending the Art Institute of Chicago in the 1960s, Burgevin moved around the country painting murals and participating in anti-war and anti-corporate activism. He has painted murals in San Francisco, Hawaii, Chicago and New York. But despite all of his traveling, Burgevin says that he has always considered the Ithaca area to be his home.

“My kids were born here,” Burgevin said. “I love this place.”

Of the 13 murals he has painted in Ithaca, Burgevin says that about three-quarters of them have been painted over. But, he says, working as a public artist has forced him to become less attached to his art.

“It’s okay,” he says, “I’ll do more! It’s like those Buddhist guys who take that colored sand and make that beautiful Mandala (http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/online/mandala/mandala.html), sweep it away, and dump it in the lake to make the lake sacred. I love that. Art isn’t a product.”

Although the Beverage Center didn’t offer him much to paint the mural, he said that he jumped at the chance paint something which would be seen regularly by the public.

“They offered me me $2,500 bucks to pain a 60 foot mural, and I was like ‘Sure!’ You know, some artists sell sketches for $2,500. Not me. These arms are strong! I work hard for my money.”

And when he’s done with the piece, Burgevin says he’ll feel like he’s given it away.

“I’m a Socialist,” he said. “It’s like: it’s not mine anymore. It’s for any person who’s thirsty and comes in for a beer.”

It may be about the customers when it’s finished, but Burgevin says it’s all about him while he’s painting it.

“It’s a show, you know. I’ve been trying to put myself on stage for years, and there it is. There’s my stage. It’s a scaffold, with me and a brush.”

And the show goes on, but not for long.

During the interview, two women at the center listened on as Burgevin described his mural.

“You’re like Ithaca’s Michelangelo,” one said with a laugh. “The Michelangelo of beer.”

Burgevin says he hopes to have the mural finished by September 9. Until then, customers of the Finger Lakes Beverage Center who look up from their shopping will get to see Dan Burgevin, painting his sacred scene.

Products by Dan Burgevin

The following products include artwork and/or writing by Dan Burgevin. Most products are a collaboration of the wonderful artists and writers who have contributed to Acorn Designs over the years.

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Blue Whale Large Journal in Birch for Acorn Designs scaled

Blue Whale Journal

$29.00

Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) The blue whale is the largest creature on earth, measuring up to 100 feet in length and weighing as much as 150 tons. Like all baleen whales, the blue whale in a filter feeder. Plates of baleen or “whalebone”, outgrowths from the roof of the mouth, form a meshwork which functions…

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Bottlenosed Dolphins Notecard Acorn Designs

Bottlenosed Dolphins Notecard

$3.00$24.00

Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) The bottlenosed dolphin is a streamlined swimmer with a gentle nature and grinning mouth. They are found in warm waters worldwide, often close to shore or in bays and lagoons. Dolphins may even venture up larger rivers. Bottlenosed dolphins feed on a wide variety of fish and invertebrates. The dolphins are sometimes…

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Desert Tortoise Large Journal in Black for Acorn Designs copy scaled

Desert Tortoise Journal

$29.00

Desert Tortoise (Gophorus agassazii) Desert tortoises range from the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southeastern California and southern Nevada south through Arizona and Mexico. They inhabit semi-arid grasslands, gravelly desert washes, canyon bottoms and rocky hillsides. Desert tortoises are strictly terrestrial. They have domed shells and stumpy elephantine hind legs, and their front limbs are…

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Desert Tortoise Lokta Card Acorn Designs

Desert Tortoise Lokta Card

$5.00$8.00

Desert tortoises range from the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southeastern California and southern Nevada south through Arizona and Mexico. They inhabit semi-arid grasslands, gravelly desert washes, canyon bottoms and rocky hillsides. Desert tortoises are strictly terrestrial. They have domed shells and stumpy elephantine hind legs, their front limbs are flattened for digging. These tortoises…

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Desert Tortoise Notecard Acorn Designs 1 scaled

Desert Tortoise Notecard

$3.00$24.00

Desert Tortoise (Gophorus agassazii) Desert tortoises range from the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southeastern California and southern Nevada south through Arizona and Mexico. They inhabit semi-arid grasslands, gravelly desert washes, canyon bottoms and rocky hillsides. Desert tortoises are strictly terrestrial. They have domed shells and stumpy elephantine hind legs, and their front limbs are…

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Desert Tortoise artwork on a Small Journal in Birch for Acorn Designs

Desert Tortoise Small Journal

$20.00

Desert tortoises range from the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of southeastern California and southern Nevada south through Arizona and Mexico. They inhabit semi-arid grasslands, gravelly desert washes, canyon bottoms and rocky hillsides. Desert tortoises are strictly terrestrial. They have domed shells and stumpy elephantine hind legs, their front limbs are flattened for digging. These tortoises…

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Largemouth Bass Lokta Card Acorn Designs

Largemouth Bass Lokta Card

$5.00$8.00

Fish connect us to a hidden world beneath the surface of the water. How often do we gaze into a pond or some pool in the a stream and wonder, “Are there any fish in there?” The large mouth bass knows this world and is known to burst through the surface of the water to…

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PJ51

Largemouth Bass Small Journal

$20.00

Fish connect us to a hidden world beneath the surface of the water. How often do we gaze into a pond or some pool in the a stream and wonder, “Are there any fish in there?” The large mouth bass knows this world and is known to burst through the surface of the water to…

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Leatherback Lokta Card Acorn Designs

Leatherback Sea Turtle Lokta Card

$5.00$8.00

The leatherback is the giant of marine turtles; these oceanic reptiles can reach 6-8 feet in length and weigh 1200-1600 pounds. It is the most widely distributed of all sea turtles, found in the open ocean from Alaska to the tip of Africa. Leatherbacks are so named because their shells are made of a layer…

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Raven DB Lokta Card Acorn Designs

Raven Lokta Card

$5.00$8.00

Being quite crafty and resourceful, ravens are quick to learn and have adapted to diverse habitats all around the world. From extreme northern climates to the southern hemisphere, ravens can be found in forests, plains, deserts and mountainous regions. Ravens are extremely playful and highly intelligent. They can be taught to speak and have been…

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Sea Turtles Large Journal in Black for Acorn Designs

Sea Turtles Journal

$29.00

Sea Turtles Sea turtles live with the cycles and rhythms of the global ocean. They are strong yet vulnerable survivors of an ancient lineage. Depicted in this card are the nine species of sea turtles in different phases of their cycles of life. Dawn breaks on a tropical beach as hundreds of hatchling Kemp’s Ridleys…

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Sea Turtles Notecard

Sea Turtles Notecard

$3.00$24.00

Sea Turtles Sea turtles live with the cycles and rhythms of the global ocean. They are strong yet vulnerable survivors of an ancient lineage. Depicted in this card are the nine species of sea turtles in different phases of their cycles of life. Dawn breaks on a tropical beach as hundreds of hatchling Kemp’s Ridleys…

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