Activist hopes to attract attention through 'mobile art'

If one word can be used to describe a person, Denise Eaker's word would be "outspoken."

She's an outspoken advocate of the gay community, an outspoken citizen interested in the world political climate, outspoken about her hatred of shoes and outspoken about her love of family and friends.

"This is America. It's liberty and justice for all," Eaker said, her bare feet whitish-tan against the dark asphalt in the morning sun.

In the past few weeks, Eaker has taken her outspoken nature another step. Never afraid to speak her mind, she's now taken her passions and ideals and put visual representations of them in the windows of her minivan.

Eaker calls it "mobile art." Her van's back and side windows are partially covered in it.

The accumulation of pictures, signs and messages began to decorate the maroon Ford minivan in January. But Eaker said the "mobile art" really took off following the death of her grandmother, Mini, in early May.

Eaker said her aunt came to her asking her to add something to her grandmother's obituary.

"I started writing, and I realized my grandmother was more than just stats on a page," Eaker said.

Eaker's grandmother and grandfather, Charles Hoover, serve as the centerpiece to her mobile art. Almost an entire side of her van's windows are dedicated to the couple that was married 63 years before Mini died. Her grandmother, said Eaker, was more like her mother. Her grandfather she calls "the wisest man I've ever known," a man who she thought could "break down a million walls" when she was a child.

"They gave me my community values and they gave me community spirit," Eaker said, proudly pointing to the photos of her grandparents. "My generation, we lost our community values. We don't know our neighbors anymore."

With her mobile art, Eaker said she wants to send a message about that community spirit. Along with the photos of her friends and family, there are tributes to the victims of 9/11 and slogans that encourage unity.

Unity is an important concept to a gay activist like Eaker. She runs the halfway house Visions of Pride -- a not-for-profit organization she started to help gay, lesbian and transgender people in need of support.

Now Eaker is trying to bring the entire local community together for an event in October she calls the Grand Freedom Gathering. Whether or not it will happen remains to be seen, but Eaker will try, and she hopes her "mobile art" will prompt people to ask questions of her so she can tell them about the event.

The goal, she said, is to make people know one another.

"We need to come together as a community," Eaker said. "If we don't, then we'll be forced together when a catastrophe happens. In a crisis we're all going to be thrown together."

The gathering will focus on preparedness in disaster situations, Eaker said.

The "mobile art" has caught the attention of police, Eaker said, but she's never gotten a ticket for it. Under Missouri law a driver must be able to see out the side and front windows and must be able to see behind them through a mirror.

Not all of the photos and symbols on the van windows are serious, though. One group of photos directly describes parts of Eaker's personality.

A cutout drawing of the cartoon character Underdog is positioned above a picture of bare feet on one side of the van. Next to them a pair of red, white and blue flip-flops with the word "U.S.A." on them hangs in the window.

Eaker looks at herself as an Underdog, and she refuses to wear shoes.

"This is America," Eaker laughs. "I should be able to go barefoot if I freaking want to."

Eaker and her friend Jessie Poley drive around in the maroon van every day. Eaker says they're trying to help people in need.

Poley has known Eaker for about 6 years and said the activist's talk of unity and helping others isn't just empty words.

Poley calls her friend "extreme" in her enthusiasm.

"She definitely stands her ground on her beliefs," Poley said . "She means it with all of her heart."

Eaker knows many people in conservative Southeast Missouri don't agree with her lifestyle, but that doesn't stop her from being outspoken. Her grandfather said that kind of attitude can definitely be traced back to Mini.

The quality that creates that spunk is hard to pin down.

"I wouldn't know how to describe her," Hoover said. "She's interesting, I'll tell you that."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182