About the Artists

A crash course in Symbology 101… that’s what our LIGHT Brigade team of artists were required to pass before they could begin working on recreating the LIGHT VW Bus. Each of the five members of the team I hired was required to study every arcane symbol on this bus and learn as much as they could about them. Not only did they have to be physically fit to take on this demanding job, they had to be professionally trained freelance artists, and willing students of the messages of LIGHT.

A lot of hard work and great expense has been poured into transforming an old ’62 bus into the new LIGHT, but by far the most important component to its eventual success as a magical talisman is the intentional will mastered by the LIGHT Brigade of artists. We poured our intentions into every brush stroke, with our hope that everyone glimpsing this bus will experience a shift in consciousness. We want to spark a revival of optimism for a humanity that understands itself as One People on One Planet. That can start with each individual person rediscovering and turning on their own LIGHT within.

~ Dr. Bob Hieronimus, Designer and painter of the original LIGHT Bus

the team

  • Justin C. Williams
    Justin C. Williams Project Manager

    One of Justin’s artistic specialties are abstract pieces inspired by mathematical graph theory and the concept of energy fields. Our team was especially grateful to his skill for accurately measuring and adjusting the complicated grid work for the transfer of the design to the bus.Justin C. Williams began drawing as a youngster, around the same time he started to talk. Years later he studied architecture and design at the University of Wisconsin and then worked for a time as an industrial designer in Milwaukee.Justin began a serious pursuit of fine art in the mid 1990’s, focusing on several themes, including: aerial views of cityscapes in the Mediterranean region; industrial cityscapes; and abstract pieces inspired by mathematical graph theory and the concept of energy fields.In 2008 Justin met Dr. Bob Hieronimus in Baltimore when he signed on to help complete one of Dr. Bob’s murals, “A Little Help From Our Friends”. Since then, Justin has had the good fortune to work on several of Dr. Bob’s other public art projects: his “We the People” art car (2008); a live painting performance at the Wind Up Space in Baltimore (2009); the “We the People”mural (2013); and the restoration of the “Apocalypse” mural at Johns Hopkins University (2015). The recreation of the “Woodstock Light Bus” (2018) is their sixth project together. Justin works in a variety of media, including graphite pencil, Prismacolorpencil, design marker, India ink, and enamel paints. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibits in Anchorage, Alaska, Milwaukee, and Baltimore. A complete portfolio of his work can viewed at the Facebook site “JCW Artwork”.

  • Lindsey Sam Zuskin, B.F.A.
    Lindsey Sam Zuskin, B.F.A. Textile Artist

    Lindsey grew up in a VW family, and was the one most often to jump in to shift thegears and lift the brake to steer the bus when the artists need to shift it around under the scaffolding in the barn. She was also one of the first to climb up to the roof and masterthe uncomfortable process of leaning off the scaffold to grid, sketch and paint the design. Lindsey Sam Zuskin is a Textile artist based in Baltimore, Maryland.She specializes in weaving, dyeing and will try anything new to keep her hands busy, including treasure hunting for new materials on the streets, from secondhand stores and collecting food waste for dyes.Her work is based in environmental consciousness, but aesthetically pulls from traditional woven structures and techniques, but without a limited color palette. Beside her consuming love of yarn, Lindsey is a devout cat lady, an amateur bread baker, a clumsy dancer and a lover of unexplained mysteries.

  • Jessica Rassp, B.A.
    Jessica Rassp, B.A. Scenic Painter

    Jessica Rassp, B.A. Jess is a hard worker, putting in extra hours, uncomplaining about the stiff postures she’s been cramped in for hours dangling from the scaffold like a Cirque du Soliel performer. Her line qualityis excellent, and we were grateful for her steady hand, both left and right-handed. Originally from Los Angeles, Jess Rassp is a Theatre Artist and self-taught puppet maker with a background in sculpture and painting. Jess transforms simple materials such as hoops, chicken wire, gauze, and coffee filters into creatures that visually capture natural forms and movements. She has used puppets to tell folk tales, display alien creatures from another planet, and create whimsical dreams. In addition to intensive studies in theatre and fine arts, she received her B.A. in English Literature from Brandeis University. Jess focuses on cultural exchange through art and her work emphasizes the deep connections between visual, literary, and performing arts. Jess is currently Artistic Director and Scenic Charge of Cohesion Theatre Company in Baltimore. jessrasspdesign.com. Brief artist mission statement:Studying symbology and Bob Hieronimus’s way of thinking about the universe is at the heart of why Jess is interested in this project, and what sets it apart from other murals. Jess is excited to apply her skills as a scenic artist and learn with this team of bus painters how to capture the essence of Bob’s original talisman.

  • Rodger Roundy, B.A.
    Rodger Roundy, B.A. Artist/Autist

    Once you meet Rodger, you’ll never forget him –a unique individualist, Rodger kept us all on our toes. He’s eager to volunteer for every task, especially the dirtiest and least glamorous ones, and he takes on every assignment with gusto and a smile. His vocabulary will knock your socks off and his enthusiasm is unparalleled. Rodger Roundy calls himself an Artist/Autist, a Peacemonger, and a Free-Speech Sunuvabitch. He recently wrote and illustrated Dover: A Forgiveness Fable, an eye-popping graphic novel about the daring and determined daughter of a wounded soldier. A lifetime’s exposure to Pro Wrestling helps him savor the Kabuki of Trump-Era politics. He invites you to track his daily struggle on www.rodgerroundy.com.

  • Lily Bleser
    Lily Bleser Portrait Artist

    When the LIGHT Brigade realized they were running past their deadline for completion of the painting portion of this project, we added Lily Bleser to the team to help us across the finish line in the final weeks. Fortunately, Lily fit right in and was an enormous help from the start. She put the finishing touches on the Sphinx, and then tackled the bumpers taking them to completion, and then moved to thefront seat where we added the constellation Aquarius to the dashboard. Lily Bleser is a portrait and illustration artist based in Upperco, MD. She has been studying portraiture at Zoll Studio in Timonium since 2013, focusing on both animal and human faces. The mediums she loves range from graphite and charcoal to oil paint and pastels. When it comes to illustrations, Lily explores the endless possibilities of digital art. Realistic, surrealistic, painterly, sketchy, cartoonish; all styles are open for traversing. Whether she is working on traditional or digital art, the whimsical aspects of nature and complex emotions of people are what inspire her to create. Outside of art, Lily loves to wander through the forest in her backyard and through the strange local shops of Baltimore. And when hanging out at home, she says you’ll usually find her watching Youtube, Netflix, cartoons or anime like a real nerd. www.lilybleser.com

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