#ThisIsThePlace: Whiteville artist finds inspiration where others see trash

WHITEVILLE, NC (WWAY) — What most people see as trash, one Whiteville man views as treasures for his collages that capture life in southeastern North Carolina.

Mark Bannerman has always had a passion for fine art, and he says Whiteville’s culture has influenced his work.

“I have this passion to create whatever it might be,” Bannerman said.

Art has been a way of life for bannerman.

“I could go from glitter to broken mirror to candy wrappers,” he said.

But his vision is all about thinking and doing outside of the box

“I am a garbage collector, you might say,” Bannerman said.

What might be trash to you is what Bannerman sees as treasure.

“It’s like a ‘Where’s Waldo,'” he said. “I want my viewers to come up and see what’s really embedded within the art.”

Bannerman says his artistic eye came from his father

“He was always interested in art, and I always admired the way, especially, how he drew Mickey Mouse,” Bannerman said.

Growing up in the Hoosier State, Bannerman’s love for art led him to Indiana University for graphic design. In 1983, he won a design competition to create a new football helmet for the college.

“I went from the helmet design to designing the uniforms to the football field to the murals on the side of the stadium, and it was fun with (coach) Sam Wyche in creating this,” Bannerman said.

But after spending most of his life in the midwest, fate brought him to Columbus County.

“My grandfather cleared the land, built the house and built this pack house,” Bannerman said. “I couldn’t see it go.”

Bannerman said you couldn’t put a price tag on the property.

“We said we would give up our jobs and go to Whiteville,” he said.

Some say tobacco and tobacco farmers put North Carolina on the map, and Whiteville was an important part of that. Bannerman quickly learned how true that was while teaching art education at Whiteville High School.

“I’ll never forget when I first started teaching,” he said. “We had to wait for kids to get off fields from cropping tobacco, so it was interesting.”

And it was the Whiteville roots that guided Bannerman to create his unique art.

“It started with a painting I did with tobacco warehouse scene, and I ended up putting burlap on there, and all of the sudden there was a realization that you have taken this a step further,” he said. “That gluing something on a 2-D surface takes something a step further.”

He told his students to be creative and be original.

“I want you to notice things you have never noticed in the world before. I want you to look at the world in a different manner,” he said.

And at first glace, you may not notice what’s really making up his artwork.

“A bobby pin is right in there, and here is a paper clip. There is a gum wrapper,” Bannerman said while showing off his art.

Now recently retired, he spends every day drawing, painting and doing heavy collage art.

“To observe art they say you need to step back and look at the art,” Bannerman said. “That is true. I want my viewers to do that, but I also want them to be intrigued enough to come up and look within it and say, ‘Oh, my gosh. There’s a hair clip in there,’ or ‘There’s a broken comb in or there’s a beer tab.'”

While living in Whiteville, Bannerman says he hopes others will take a closer look to see what really makes up this small town.

“I’m living a dream right now,” Bannerman said. “I am.”

The Bannerman family truly lives art, because Mark was an art teacher Whiteville High, and after he retired, his son took that position.

Mark’s wife currently is an art teacher at a nearby middle school, and their daughter is a dancer.