by Fields Falcone
Early one morning I was heading to East Parkway to check on the pavilion for a rental. This gentle soul was locking his bike to his usual post, and I decided, after a few earlier attempts at “hello,” that I would boldly introduce myself. I was drawn to this private, humble regular and wanted him to know he was welcome park family. He said, “Oh! Hello, my name is Guy.” I thought he might have just made that up on the spot! Suspenders, rounded hat, sensible all-black attire — he seemed from another century, wandering with slow deliberation among the frantic urban dream-chasers.
Little did I know Guy Church was well known in the park and beyond.
Park supporter Cristina Pinkham had a similar bold approach to meeting the mystery man: “I headed straight toward him and introduced myself! He told me right off that he was an artist and made three rounds of the park a day.”
Artist, indeed. Church began drawing in the late 80s while living in Wisconsin where he grew up. After a 1994 exhibition in Madison, Guy made his way to Memphis and had gallery shows from Arkansas to New York, including Tops Gallery downtown. He was self-taught, often depicting imaginary human subjects in regular moments of life and familiar surroundings, using primarily charcoal and some colored pencil.
Matt Ducklo, gallerist of Tops, serendipitously met the love of his life through Guy’s art. Dr. Nia Zalamea-Ducklo was working with a community outreach nonprofit and heard about Church’s talents. Matt also loved his work, and the two met while helping coordinate a small art show of Guy’s drawings at the nonprofit’s headquarters. They fell in love, and Matt proposed to Nia at the Overton Park golf clubhouse!
Two of the works Church exhibited at Tops Gallery: “The Great Outside World” and “Foul Ball.”
All these remarkable details and many more came out at the celebration of Guy’s life in January this year. The Ducklo family kept an eye on Church’s basic needs in the latter years, even coordinating his final resting place at Elmwood Cemetery. Church had many siloed communities that met each other on that day – ball players from Tobey Park where he frequently watched games, his regular Bible study group, coworkers at Garner Framing where he worked one day a week, the art community he met through attending Tops and other gallery openings, and his vast Overton Park family.
Park supporters Meg Jones and Bill Powell walked with Guy most mornings, greeting all the regularly walked dogs by name with treats and love. Kay Lait fondly recalls sitting with Church and Pinkham as he showed them his sketchbook, explaining story, technique, and process for each drawing, and sharing his love of the 18th century painter Chardin.
Staff and park regulars were drawn to his reserved, peaceful presence, and he is deeply missed. Pinkham shared, “He was a special visitor in the park. He built more of a community here — we got to know each other better because of him.”
In Church’s words, “People may not always be doing magnificent things, but in them is a very special wonder that is an artful thing.” (Miracles of the Spirit: Folk, Art, and Stories from Wisconsin, Krug et al. 2005).
Guy Church takes a fellow park visitor’s dog for a stroll around Rainbow Lake (photo by Bill Powell)
