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Artist Finds Inspiration At Walmart

Courtesy of Brendan O'Connell

Imagine you’re walking through your neighborhood Walmart and somewhere between the pet supplies and check-out lines, you run across a 40-something guy with a painting easel that's propped up on a shopping cart. That was the scene in Charlotte this week at the Walmart on Wilkinson Boulevard. Contemporary artist Brendan O'Connell, wearing jeans and an un-tucked pinstripe shirt, was hanging out in the produce section. The paint was drying on his rendition of a cluster of bananas.   

O’Connell has been dubbed “Walmart’s Warhol,” he's been on the Colbert Report and he was featured in Time Magazine as “America’s Brand Painter.” WFAE's Mark Rumsey caught up with O’Connell and chatted with him about his Walmart live painting sessions and his vision for everyday art in America today.

Mark Rumsey grew up in Kansas and got his first radio job at age 17 in the town of Abilene, where he announced easy-listening music played from vinyl record albums.