National Kansas Day was extra special this year, with Phyllis Garibay-Coon’s mural “Rebel Women” being unveiled, making her the first woman with art displayed in the Kansas Statehouse.
A local legend in Manhattan, Garibay-Coon is an artist, business owner and 1987 Kansas State alumna with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design.
“I had a lot of fine arts classes at K-State even though I was in graphics, but it made me a better designer and got me into painting,” Garibay-Coon said.
Her daughter, Hannah Pease, also graduated from K-State’s bakery science program, and they own and operate Little Batch Company and Parkside Station together. Garibay-Coon is also an avid muralist with multiple large-scale works scattered around town — her most well-known being in the Sunset Zoo.
“I enjoy doing large figurative work,” Garibay-Coon said. “An eyelash when you’re painting a foot by a foot has a lot more leeway than if you’re painting tiny and trying to get super tight details,” Garibay-Coon said.
During the League of Women Voters event in Topeka, her newest mural, “Rebel Women,” was revealed at noon in the Capitol building to celebrate Kansas turning 164 years old. Kansas Day is celebrated annually on Jan. 29 to commemorate the state’s admission into the Union and is used as Kansas’ birthday. This year, Garibay-Coon was invited to reveal the Capitol’s newest mural and speak about its creation.
“Rebel Women” is composed of 13 women who fought for Kansas womens’ voting rights. It is an 8-foot high and 19-foot wide oil painting that is now permanently installed in the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka. This mural is not just an homage to Kansas suffragists but was the first woman-made art installation in the Capitol building. For women around the world, this painting is not just a memorium, but a call to action.
“I believe that young women are seeing their rights be less than their mothers’ and if you don’t do anything about it, nothing will happen,” Garibay-Coon said. “Register to vote, even if you don’t feel like it’ll matter nationally. Remember, voting locally is very important and matters just as much, if not more, than who the president is. We will not be denied.”
Recovering from her long painting extravaganza, Garibay-Coon attends to her businesses surrounded by family and loved ones.
“I’m resurfacing from being sequestered for nine months in my house painting; it feels like I’m coming back to the surface for this first time,” Garibay-Coon said.
