Village of Downing mural nearing completion
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DOWNING MURAL — Glenwood City High School art teacher Sarah Nichols (left) with the assistance of high school student Emma Bliese (right) have been creating a mural on the west wall of the Downing Village office. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
By Renee Bettendorf
DOWNING- First time mural painter and Glenwood City High School Art Teacher Sarah Nichols is nearing completion on a mural located on the west wall of the Village of Downing office. The entire project has been funded by donations from the community.
According to Nichols, currently about $2,600 has been donated by community members and local businesses for the mural project.
“I wish there was a way I could write thank you letters to all of them,” said Nichols.
The mural project actually started last spring when Downing Village Clerk Jen Lagerstrom, mentioned to Nichols that the village was interested in having a mural painted on the village office. Lagerstrom thought the west wall would be a great place for a mural and Nichols agreed.
“I jumped at the opportunity to do it,” said Nichols.
Since the spring Nichols, Largerstom and the village board have been talking about what kind of mural the village would be interested in. They discussed murals in New Richmond and Menomonie and decided that they wanted the word Downing to be prominent.
So they settled on a style inspired by a collection of murals called the Greetings Tour. The Greetings Tour are murals created by Victor Vang and Lisa Beggs, a couple from New York City who travel the U.S. painting murals that remind viewers of vintage postcards.
The style involves a town’s name written in large in blocky lettering. Inside the letters scenes that bring to mind different aspects of a community are painted. The paintings within the letters often depict historical events and what the area is known for.
“There’s so much history here, even though Downing is not big on the map, it’s gonna be a good one,” said Nichols of the mural.
Nichols did quite a lot of research on the history of Downing to get ideas for the mural. Largerstrom provided her with some history books.
“I read them front to back,” said Nichols.
The first two letters of the mural are inspired by the cover of one of the history books that she read. The D has a map of the three creeks near Downing. Nichols said she learned from the history books that ‘Triple Creek Country’ was a nickname that the village voted on and approved for itself.
The O will have a beaver, a goose and a fly fisherman, the W will be devoted to logging history, the N covers dairy farming, and the I features a painting of a train. The background will be a large landscape with rolling hills and round bales.
“I think it’s all turning out to look good over all,” she said.
The N and G will be a painting of people riding in a side by side and waving at some people on a front porch. Nichols said whenever she picks her kids up from daycare there’s always people in side by sides waving.
“That one was kind of personal to me,” she said.
Nichols has been teaching high school art at Glenwood City High School for two years. One of her students, Emma Bliese who will be a junior at GCHS next fall, has been helping her with the project.
“I’m so grateful for Emma,” she said.
The ever present rain has been making the project go slower than expected. Humidity is also a problem because the wall sweats, making it impossible to paint. She’s hoping to finish the mural by the end of July.
“There’s still a lot of steps left,” she said.
