The last time we talked to Chris Knight, owner of Deck the Walls in Joplin, Mo., he was doing his part to help replace priceless keepsake photos residents of the town lost during the horrific day an EF5 multiple-vortex tornado brought vast destruction to Joplin this past May.
Knight got another chance to donate to the cause when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (EM:HE) came to town to build seven homes for seven families. Knight volunteered on the website to help if any printing was needed for the project.
However, it wasn’t the website inquiry that attracted EM:HE to his print shop. EM:HE project manager Bill Crowley happened by Deck the Walls and noticed the sign on the shop’s truck. So, he walked in and discussed a project at one of the homes that seemed to be right up Deck the Wall’s alley, a Denver Broncos wall mural in Home 7 (Knight doesn’t know which family will be in Home 7).
“I wish it was Kansas City,” Knight sighs, “even though they’re not playing well either. Extreme Makeover had the Denver Broncos contact us and send us some images and the Extreme Makeover crew ended up choosing the bird’s eye view of the stadium so it looks like you can walk into the picture.”
LexJet donated a roll of LexJet Velvet WallPro SUV to the cause, which Knight printed on his Epson GS6000 low-solvent printer, which he bought from LexJet in late July.
“I love the new Epson printer and it’s helped expand our business into other commercial work with banners, adhesive backed vinyl and the WallPro. The WallPro printed great; it looked like it did on the monitor to the printer. When I bought printer I also got the Onyx RIP software to go with it so I can be more accurate with color management,” says Knight.
The image was printed in two 48” panels with no overlap and installed by professional paper hangers who volunteered for the project. Though it may seem out of place in Missouri it will surely make someone devastated by the tornadoes happy.
The episode of Extreme Home Makeover: Home Edition featuring Joplin is scheduled to run later this fall on ABC. For more information about the project and the families, go to www.joinextreme.com/joplin.
