Black Oak Mural

This outdoor mural is on an exterior wall of what is expected to become the Black Oak Museum.  It was painted in 2018 by Candice Teeter Dunigan and Brooke Agular and depicts the town's cotton heritage, other aspects of its early development, and its most famous former residents. Jim "Dandy" Mangrum, lead singer and front man for the American Southern rock band Black Oak Arkansas, grew up in Black Oak and put the town on the map when they took its name for their own. Throughout the 1970s, the group was one of the highest-grossing rock groups in the United States. Best-selling American novelist John Grisham attended school in Black Oak for a time and also memorialized the town.  “A Painted House,” his novel published in 2001, is set on a farm near Black Oak and Grisham drew on his memories of the town, including the migrant workers brought in annually to assist with the harvest.  The town is in the fund-raising stage to develop a museum at this location that includes artifacts, photographs, and other memorabilia that focus on the history reflected in this mural.